Hamptons Home Sales Tumble as Snow Impedes Manhattan Buyers

Home sales in the Hamptons, Wall Street’s summer retreat, fell 22 percent in the first quarter after snowfalls hampered buyer interest and sellers made deals late last year in anticipation of higher capital gains taxes.

Transactions in the Long Island, New York, beachside towns plunged to 309 from 396 a year earlier, New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. The 22 percent year-over-year drop was the largest since the second quarter of 2009, Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, said in an interview.