Latest news with #Breitenbach
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming
Hamptons home sales are booming despite stock market volatility and recession fears. Home sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period in 2024. Prices and sales are soaring in the beach destination despite Wall Street volatility. As Wall Street reels with every twist and turn in President Donald Trump's trade war, there's little sign of economic uncertainty in Manhattan's favorite beach destination just 100 miles east. Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year. Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than $2 million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report. Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020. "The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales." Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends." This embedded content is not available in your region. Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a $17.5 million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for $13 million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for $21 million, and a Southampton house for $5.6 million. "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI. While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between $1 million and $5 million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up. So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly. Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies. "Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse." Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments. The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand. Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for $44.5 million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal." Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites. "A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said. Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said. She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that. "It's going to be a busy summer in the Hamptons regardless," Breitenbach said. "People keep coming out here no matter what's going on." Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming
Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year. Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than $2 million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report. Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020. "The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales." Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends." Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a $17.5 million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for $13 million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for $21 million, and a Southampton house for $5.6 million. "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI. While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between $1 million and $5 million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up. So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly. Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies. "Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse." Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments. The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand. Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for $44.5 million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal." Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites. "A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said. Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said. She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that.
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
There's doom and gloom about the economy, but million-dollar Hamptons home sales are booming
As Wall Street reels with every twist and turn in President Donald Trump's trade war, there's little sign of economic uncertainty in Manhattan's favorite beach destination just 100 miles east. Demand for luxury real estate in the Hamptons is only growing. Sales and home prices have surged over the last year. Rising prices in the tony enclave are nothing new. The pandemic ushered in a surge of buyers looking to escape the city. The median sales price of homes in the Hamptons in the first quarter of 2025 was more than $2 million, a 13% increase over the previous year and nearly double what it was five years ago, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report. Perhaps more notably, the pace of sales is also soaring this year. Sales were up about 86% in the first quarter over the same time period last year, according to the Douglas Elliman report. That's after home sales fell in the wake of the pandemic buying frenzy, and haven't returned to the highs of 2020. "The tired story of the housing recovery coming out of the pandemic is high prices, low sales," Jonathan Miller, who leads the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and authored the Douglas Elliman report, told Business Insider. "The Hamptons doesn't fit that pattern. It's high prices and high sales." Miller added that the sharp rise in sales is "unusual and counter to the prevailing trends." Susan Breitenbach, a top Hamptons real estate agent with the Corcoran Group, said she's closed more deals so far this year than in all of 2024. She's sold a slew of luxury homes, including a $17.5 million oceanfront property in Bridgehampton, an Amagansett home for $13 million, a Sag Harbor home on less than an acre for $21 million, and a Southampton house for $5.6 million. "It was really very surprising," Breitenbach, who's been selling property in the Hamptons for more than 30 years, told BI. While some agents like Breitenbach are closing deals at the highest end of the market, the middle of the Hamptons market — homes between $1 million and $5 million — has driven the uptick in sales. These "meat and potatoes" sales, Miller said, are way up. So-called "tangible assets," like luxury real estate in very in-demand markets, can be particularly attractive to certain investors when markets are wobbly. Global stocks plummeted following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement, and while they've mostly rebounded since the administration walked back some of their tariffs, markets are on edge. In early June, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its forecast for the US economic growth rate in 2025 from 2.8% to 1.6%, citing Trump's trade policies. "Hamptons real estate has a long history of appreciating over time," Andrew Saunders, president of the Hamptons real estate brokerage Saunders & Associates, told BI. Some more cautious buyers "might look at what's happening in the world at large and say, 'You know what, I'm going to wait a month or two and let the world take a few spins and see what happens.' But we're not seeing that occur en masse." Miller credited big Wall Street bonuses in 2024 for some of the spike in sales and agreed that market volatility could be pushing some to diversify their investments. The Hamptons rental market might be more sensitive to economic uncertainty. Breitenbach said rental interest was much higher than usual in January but has since fallen off. Miller, who doesn't track rentals in the Hamptons, added that an increase in sales would naturally lead to a drop in rental demand. Breitenbach recently listed a home on 2.5 acres of oceanfront property in Water Mill, which sits between Southampton and Bridgehampton, for $44.5 million. "It's not about the house, it's about the land," she added. "And that's a deal." Hamptons buyers are from all over. Breitenbach said she's seen an uptick in California buyers this year, and she still has foreign buyers. But a large share of her clients are still Manhattanites. "A lot of it is the high-end New York — Manhattan — buyers, because there aren't many places they can go on the weekends," she said. Breitenbach said Memorial Day weekend this year felt more packed than ever out east, even with cooler-than-normal weather. "It looked like Fourth of July," she said. She doesn't expect market volatility and even threats of a recession to change that. "It's going to be a busy summer in the Hamptons regardless," Breitenbach said. "People keep coming out here no matter what's going on."
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
No chicken shortage expected as SA bans imports from Brazil
The Department of Agriculture has banned all fresh and frozen chicken imports from Brazil following an outbreak of avian influenza in that country, according to South African Poultry Association (SAPA) general manager Izaak Breitenbach. The ban on chicken imports from Brazil is not expected to lead to a shortage of chicken meat in South Africa. 'Brazil does not have a compartmentalisation agreement with South Africa, which would have allowed imports from unaffected regions, so no chicken imports are allowed from anywhere in that country,' Breitenbach told Farmer's Weekly. Cooked or heat-treated chicken will also not be allowed to be imported from Brazil due to the potential threat it poses to the local industry. Despite this, Breitenbach said the ban would not negatively affect South African chicken supplies or prices. 'South African producers should be able to make up for the shortfall, as we are entering a time of lower demand,' he said. He pointed out that South Africa produces more than 80% of the chicken consumed locally. 'Brazil supplies most of our chicken imports, equating to about 18% of local production, but only 4.5% of these imports comprise bone-in chicken portions, such as leg quarters, drumsticks and wings,' Breitenbach said. Processed meat may be hit More than 60% of the chicken imported from Brazil consisted of mechanically deboned meat used in processed products such as polonies and sausages. Breitenbach said a shortage of these products, which are categorised as 'red meats' and not chicken, could occur. Avian influenza is currently disrupting trade in various countries, but Breitenbach noted that South African outbreaks traditionally occur in spring, when wild birds migrate from Europe and other parts of the world. These birds are routinely tested to identify potential outbreaks, and none have tested positive for the disease so far this year. South Africa has not experienced an outbreak in 2024, but suffered major losses in 2023, when over 9.6 million birds were culled. The industry reportedly incurred direct losses of more than R9.5b during the outbreak. Prices for poultry meat and eggs soared, with egg prices increasing by over 30%. Breitenbach said SAPA had met with Minister John Steenhuisen of the Department of Agriculture to address biosecurity and monitoring protocols that prevent farmers from vaccinating birds against avian influenza, as culling infected birds is not an effective control measure. 'Minister Steenhuisen has escalated our concerns in the department to enable vaccination. However, even if we start vaccinating today, it will not be soon enough to protect the birds against a possible outbreak in spring, as all the long-life birds, which are typically kept for about a year, would need to be vaccinated.' Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
23-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
No chicken shortage on the horizon for SA despite global bird flu concerns
There will be no chicken shortage in South Africa, assures SAPA. Despite global disruptions in the poultry industry caused by outbreaks of avian influenza, a shortage of chicken in South Africa remains highly unlikely. This is according to the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), which has confirmed that local producers have sufficient capacity to handle any potential shortfall resulting from restrictions on chicken imports, particularly from Brazil. South Africa's domestic poultry sector – a R65 billion industry and the country's largest agricultural employer with nearly 58,000 jobs – currently slaughters around 21.5 million chickens per week. According to SAPA's Broiler Organisation CEO, Izaak Breitenbach, the industry has already increased its capacity to process up to 22.5 million birds weekly, leaving room to scale up in the event of rising demand or reduced imports. 'As the winter months are a period of lower demand for chicken, the additional supply should be sufficient to ensure there are no shortages of chicken meat, or price increases, because of shortages,' said Breitenbach.
