Are the Hamptons Really Over? Why Homeowners Here Might Welcome the News

Are the Hamptons over?

As the latest summer season for New York City’s poshest beach locale winds down, rumors are afoot that this scene has gone stale.

“Summering in the Hamptons is dead,” a recent New York Post headline announced, pointing out that “budding influencers are trying to outdo each other vacation-hopping instead.”

One reason the Hamptons has lost its luster among influencers could be that this East Coast vacation spot has been overexposed. A recent study found that when an influencer posts a social media pic at a certain destination such as the Hamptons, it becomes less appealing for others to copy since it’s seen as unoriginal.

“We want to stand out by being a little different,” Zoe Y. Lu, an assistant professor of marketing at Tulane University and the lead author of the paper, told the Wall Street Journal.

“People want to go off the beaten path,” Tony Abrams, who runs high-end travel company Four Hundred, told the Post. “The cool people who are posting and creating content are going to Paros, Antiparos, Marbella, the Cotswolds … because it’s different.”

This influencer outflow has already taken a hit on the Hamptons rental market, which piled up without the usual fervor of interest from vacationers.

“The rental market was flooded with inventory this year, and the pace of rental transactions slowed accordingly,” says Michele Mahl of The Agency Hamptons.

The National Real Estate Roundtable reports an increase in the inventory of available rental properties, which has led to price reductions of 10% to 20% compared with the previous year.

This news might not bode well for Hamptons landlords, but the impact on real estate for the people who own homes and live here is less clear. It could even have upsides for those who hate the crowds that often pack their glamorous shores.

So far at least, Hamptons home prices remain robust.

“Home prices continue to climb in the Hamptons,” says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com®.

In August, home prices were up 7.9% year over year in Suffolk County, NY, and price per square foot was up 13.6%. The high-priced towns of East Hampton and Southampton saw slower price growth, but home prices were still 2.6% and 2.1% higher year over year respectively, and price per square foot was 4.8% and 1.6% higher.

Real estate agents on the ground here have seen no dwindling in interest from buyers.

“This summer, we saw great momentum coming off a strong spring season, continuing the strength the market exhibited the prior year,” says Mahl. “The trophy market has continued to thrive, with remarkable activity, and we anticipate sustained growth in this segment.”

Actors, musicians, business leaders, and media personalities including Drew Barrymore, Richard Gere, Beyoncé and JAY Z, Billy Joel, Alec Baldwin, Robert Downey Jr., Robert De Niro, and Calvin Klein are among the glitterati known to summer here.

The area has also gained fame on TV shows such as “Sex and the City,” “Gossip Girl,” and “The Affair,” plus movies including “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” “Wall Street,” and “No Hard Feelings,” among numerous others.

Truth be told, owners of top properties here are likely happier without hordes of influencers taking selfies while clogging the streets and favorite dining venues. In addition, influencers are most likely young and lack the means to purchase here.

“Young buyers are likely not looking to purchase a home in these high-priced markets, where the median-priced home will cost you nearly $3 million or more,” points out Jones.

In other words, let the influencers travel abroad and leave the Hamptons to the homeowners—just about everyone may be happier for it.