There seems to be an ongoing controversy in regard to the value of real estate, and the state of the real estate market in general. In the last year, buyers, sellers and investors have raised concerns about the possibility of values falling. Over the past four years, I have followed the market closely and talked to brokers throughout the East End, and I can assure you that it is far from falling. The rapid rise that took place in 2003-2004 has somewhat calmed to a slower, steady rise but the high-end market remains unchanged.

The rental market could not be more vibrant and the high-end market is growing stronger all the time. Above all else, this market is a unique one that bares little or no comparison to the rest Long Island where values have changed. The numbers of sales are fewer, but the dollar amounts are rising all the time. Every time we think we have seen something sell or list for the most astronomical price possible, another one comes along that is even higher. The reason why this market is so unique is the simple principle of supply and demand. There is little substantial acreage left on which to build on the East End, and even less along the highly sought after shorelines. Most everyone from Up Island and New York City seems to want to live here, and it has made the demand for properties somewhat of a phenomenon. Thanks to the large real estate conglomerates and their unlimited advertising budgets, people from all over the world are showing interest in the Hamptons real estate market. High-tech communication has made Hamptons properties visible just about everywhere in the world. You can rent a summerhouse in the Hamptons via the Internet without even moving from behind your desk in Italy or Australia. Agencies here are no longer the little village brokers they once were, and are now nationally and internationally linked to buyers they may contact whenever and wherever they desire. Eden Portfolio, a new multi-lingual brokerage in Bridgehampton, specializes in the selling Hamptons real estate on the international market.

In Amagansett, there is a 9.4-acre oceanfront parcel listed at $79,000,000. Although this seems extremely high, one never knows. The property was listed at a drastically lower price only a few years ago, but the current owner is said to have raised the price because he had received offers upwards of $50 million recently. The broker, Neil Bersin of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Bridgehampton office, would not comment on the price, but said that the property is located on some of the East End’s most pristine oceanfront acreage. Just two acres on the East Hampton oceanfront went just a few months ago at $18 million. And, in Southampton two separate two-acre lots sold for $20 million. One never knows what these properties can bring – It all depends on the level of desire someone has to own them.

If building seems like a lot of fuss, there are a few exclusive estates considered what realtors call “turnkey.” One of the most exclusive properties on the Hamptons market today is a beautiful oceanfront estate currently available in Southampton that not only includes the mansion, with its famous estate-area address, but also a separate building lot. It is listed at $62 million and area realtors agree that it is worth it or close. It is also listed with Prudential Douglas Elliman. Prices like this are becoming more commonplace and there are multiple estates and commercial listings upward of $50 million on the market at this time – East Hampton Point Resort and Marina at $55 million, a North Haven compound at $80 million on 55 acres, and many more.

In towns like Montauk and Sag Harbor, properties are transforming into high-end luxury projects through rebuilding and renovation. Buying homes just for the land and tearing down the house has become a trend all over the East End, particularly on the waterfront, where there simply is no vacant land. In a small North Fork neighborhood, I have watched four “tear-downs” and “re-builds” take place in less than a year on the same strip of land along the bay. Tiny, aging beach cottages have been replaced with 3,000-5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Post-Moderns or Mediterranean-style homes. Their values have catapulted.

So is the market on the East End falling? Hardly – it is alive and well and climbing steady everyday.