The Hamptons

  • 18 Feb 2009 at 3:52 PM

It Was Only A Matter Of Time

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The bankers’ fall from grace could only be followed by serious perception declines in the Hamptons. That’s just fine with the locals. Thank god that new money contingent is forced to move on.

…For the time being, the economy has taken care of the McMansion developers. Houses sit unfinished and it’s distressing for those who have invested, and even worse for the locals whose livelihoods depend on them.
But maybe this downturn has a silver lining given the number of terrible houses that have been built.
The alliance between local governments and developers, where trinkets are tossed to the towns in exchange for the right to overbuild with impunity, has to be examined and challenged. It’s no longer an issue of what we want this place to be but rather an issue of “can it be?” So this downturn is a very good time for us to take stock and reflect and, hopefully, emerge once again as a changed and fabulous place.

Real Estate [27east] via Banker Gone Broke

  • 12 May 2008 at 4:48 PM

John Paulson Now Shorting Individual Mortgages of Down-on-Luck Friends in Hamptons

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hamptonshouseforclosed.JPGYou know what’s something that used to be considered gauche but is now de rigueur with the Hamptons set so you know it’s cool? Not paying your mortgage. Apparently a bunch of Hamptons residents have been neglecting to send their checks to Angelo Mozilo’s PO Box these last couple months, former UBS executives included, which sounds about right. Erstwhile UBS employee Marc Warren is among the 120 homeowners who’ve had preliminary foreclosure actions (lis pendens proceedings) taken against them for loans exceeding $1 million. And they may soon be in even better company, if no one’s in a buying mood—Concoran broker Susan Breitenbach says she’s been called by dozens of Bear Stearns employees “desperate to unload their East End homes.” Hopefully they’ll be able to do so, and not join the growing number of EE homes (ten to date) that’ve been foreclosed outright since January. Which brings us to today’s reader poll– who’s the (former) deadbeat owner of this $15 million Westhampton home, pictured above? The Post doesn’t say, but we have faith the DealBreaker brain trust can figure it out.
Related: Trader Made Billions on Subprime
Trouble In LI Paradise [NYP]

  • 30 Apr 2008 at 1:59 PM

Subprime Has An Upside (If You Want To Have Wasserstein For A Neighbor. Don’t Mess With The Hedges Though).

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Home prices in the Hamptons, where rich and famous New Yorkers spend summers by the sea, fell in the first quarter as Wall Street job cuts and an economic slowdown took a toll on buyers.
The median price declined 7.1 percent to $882,500 and the number of sales dipped 29 percent from the last three months of 2007, according to a survey by appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. for New York-based Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Part- time Hamptons residents include Lazard Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Wasserstein and comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

Or you could take the advice of a sub-prime guru I know. Just wait until next year and buy it cheaper still.
Hamptons Home Prices Decline on Wall Street Job Cuts, Economy [Bloomberg]