As of 13 May 2026, the Hamptons rate cards are telling a two-market story for the first time in five years. Across our 84-house dataset (42 in the East Hampton catchment, including Wainscott, Sagaponack, Amagansett, and East Hampton Village; 42 in the Southampton catchment, including Southampton Village, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, and Quogue), East Hampton August asks have moved up 11% year on year on a median basis. Southampton August asks have moved up 2%, statistically a plateau. The 4-week Aug 1-31 median East Hampton estate-section ask is now $385,000 against last year’s $347,000; the same window in Southampton is $312,000 against $306,000. The split has been visible since March and has hardened through May as the inventory thinned.
This piece publishes the rate math, names the supply forces driving the move, and names three houses we have removed from our shortlist. Where the supporting data is not fully verified, we mark rather than guess.
The rate math, side by side
The table below reports median 4-week Aug 1-31 asks across our 84-house dataset for 2025 and 2026 by sub-market, plus the year-on-year change. The rates exclude the 9.125% combined NY state and Suffolk County tax plus CPF charge and the 10% to 15% broker fee.
| Sub-market | 2025 Aug 4-week median | 2026 Aug 4-week median | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Hampton estate section | $347,000 | $385,000 | +11% |
| Wainscott south of highway | $298,000 | $324,000 | +9% |
| Sagaponack oceanfront | $565,000 | $612,000 | +8% |
| Amagansett Lanes | $248,000 | $272,000 | +10% |
| Southampton Village | $292,000 | $298,000 | +2% |
| Southampton estate section | $306,000 | $312,000 | +2% |
| Water Mill | $246,000 | $252,000 | +2% |
| Bridgehampton south of highway | $282,000 | $294,000 | +4% |
| Bridgehampton north of highway | $172,000 | $176,000 | +2% |
| Sag Harbor | $184,000 | $189,000 | +3% |
| Montauk Hither Hills | $162,000 | $158,000 | -2% |
| Quogue | $148,000 | $151,000 | +2% |
Two observations. First, the East Hampton catchment as a whole (estate section, Wainscott, Sagaponack oceanfront, Amagansett Lanes) lifted 8% to 11%, with the highest moves on the estate-section and the Amagansett Lanes inventory. Second, the Southampton catchment is a 2% market with one exception (Bridgehampton south of the highway, at +4%). Montauk is the only sub-market that softened, on a 2% pull-back that reflects 2025 oversupply rather than 2026 weakness.
What is driving East Hampton up
Three forces did most of the work. First, the East Hampton estate-section inventory tightened on three high-profile owner-use withdrawals in the November-to-February window ; the houses removed were each in the $400,000-plus bracket, which thinned the upper-tier supply more than the headline withdrawal count suggests. Second, the Memorial-Day pull for August 2026 ran three weeks ahead of the prior pattern, which compressed the negotiating window for late bookers. Third, the Sag Harbor-to-East Hampton corridor restaurant scene has continued to compound, with three named openings since June 2025 that the broker channel reports as a demand driver.
What held Southampton flat
Southampton’s village and estate-section inventory did not tighten. Two forces explain the plateau. First, the Southampton village rental supply was bolstered by a small wave of 2024 renovations that returned to the market in early 2025, which absorbed the demand that the rate stack would otherwise have lifted. Second, the south-of-the-highway Bridgehampton corridor has effectively become the new estate-section overflow for buyers who price-shop the East Hampton catchment; the spillover into Southampton-side Water Mill has held the Southampton rate ceiling steady.
The three we passed on
An 8-bedroom Sagaponack oceanfront . Listed at $612,000 for August. The dune-and-bluff inspection we obtained shows a 4-meter-and-counting retreat over the past four years and a remediation plan that is not yet permitted under the New York DEC tidal-wetlands review process. We do not send buyers to a property with an unresolved coastal-erosion risk at this rate point. Pass.
A 9-bedroom East Hampton estate-section villa. Listed at $445,000 August. The staffing package marketed as “full Pavilion-grade” was reduced in the May 2026 contract revision to “available on request at additional cost.” The contract change is buried; the rate has not been adjusted. Pass.
A 7-bedroom Southampton Village house. Beautiful property. The HVAC system has failed twice in the past 14 months, including a 28-hour outage in August 2025. Operator has not produced a remediation letter or a service-contract upgrade. Pass.
Operators we work with
On the listing side, Compass, Corcoran, Bespoke Real Estate, Saunders, and Douglas Elliman cover the bulk of the institutional inventory. Pavilion Agency is the staffing benchmark and worth retaining for any 4-week or 8-week booking at the $300,000-plus tier. Plum Guide carries a vetted Hamptons set on the platform side; its 2024 Hamptons launch has matured into a credible product for buyers who prefer a single-vetting-pass platform. We do not send buyers to Airbnb Luxe in the Hamptons; the staffing depth is too thin and the inspection cadence too light for the rate point.
The Pavilion Agency staffing line, quantified
The Hamptons staffing economy is the line item that turns a $385,000 East Hampton estate-section August into a $440,000-to-$465,000 all-in trip. Pavilion Agency’s 2026 Hamptons bench rates run roughly as follows: house manager $1,200 to $1,800 per day; chef $1,400 to $2,400 per day for single-couple service and $2,400 to $3,800 for full-family service; housekeeper $48 to $62 per hour; nanny $42 to $58 per hour; driver $850 to $1,200 per day. For a 4-week August at the estate-section tier with a chef, two housekeepers, a nanny, and intermittent driver, the staffing line lands $52,000 to $84,000 inclusive of taxes and gratuity. Two operating notes matter. Pavilion-grade chefs book out for August by mid-March in a strong year. The 2025 Memorial-Day pull on chef bookings was particularly aggressive; we have already seen the same pattern repeat for 2026.
How to read the Bridgehampton-north value pocket
Bridgehampton north of the highway is the most defensible value pocket in the Hamptons in 2026. The 4-week August median holds at $176,000, only 2% above 2025, and the inventory is structurally better than the rate suggests. Three reasons. First, the Sagaponack and East Hampton estate-section overflow shopping that should logically lift north-of-the-highway has been routed instead into Water Mill and Bridgehampton south. Second, the beach access from the north corridor runs eight to twelve minutes by car to the closest entrance, which is enough friction to suppress the rate but not enough to suppress the trip enjoyment. Third, the architectural quality of the 2018-to-2024 new builds in Bridgehampton north is comfortably higher than the equivalent vintage in Quogue or Hither Hills. For a family group of ten to fourteen at $176,000 over 4 weeks, this is the corridor we recommend most often this season.
What we are watching
Three things move the picture into 2027. The East Hampton supply pull is not yet structural; if even two of the three owner-use withdrawals return to the rental market for 2027, the rate stack at the top end gives back four to six points. The Bridgehampton-south corridor is the next leg of the rate move; if the Bridgehampton-south rate stack catches up to East Hampton estate-section ($385,000 plus), the geographic compass shifts west by two miles. And the airport-and-helicopter logistics (BLADE and HTO operations are mid-cycle pricing reviews for late 2026) will affect Sunday-afternoon arrival patterns; if helicopter rates lift meaningfully, the East Hampton corridor benefits because its airport is closer to the rental zone than Southampton’s.
Last updated 2026-03. We have not adjusted our editorial for the commission rate. See how-we-make-money for the full disclosure.