Sales more stable on LI overall

While sales in the Hamptons suffered in the first quarter of 2011, overall sales on Long Island, specifically condo and one- to three-family home sales in Nassau and Suffolk counties, excluding the Hamptons and North Fork were stable, according to a report filed by Prudential Douglas Elliman.

The average sales price increased slightly to $439,085 from $428,234, year over year, the median sales price remained unchanged at $350,000, and the number of sales went up, to 3,841 from 3,814 year over year.

"Long Island has stabilized, but it's not on fire," said Dottie Herman, Elliman's president and chief executive. "But if it's priced on the money and it's updated and looks great, it's moving."

Herman also warned that looking ahead, declines in Hamptons numbers need to be taken with perspective.

"There's not a lot of transactions in the Hamptons," she said. "When you have so few transactions, you then really need only a small amount to make a difference. It's hard to know if [the decline is] a trend or not, and what made the difference."

Overall, Herman suggested that for both Long Island in general and the Hamptons in particular, it's better to wait and see what happens. "We won't know how the year will turn out until we see the second quarter," she said.