REAL ESTATE

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But it wasn't long before the stock market was on a tear again. Many of our Wall Street gurus of today were once junior stars on the rise, eying, as would-be cool investors, prime pieces of Hamptons real estate.

Some of the best properties were bought in those years, gobbled up, in fact, all along Lily Pond Lane, Further Lane, West End, Gin Lane and Class A waterfront addresses off Southampton's necks. The great building boom on Meadow Lane had barely begun. The average price was about $5 million for an oceanfront house with a typical two-acre lot—a drop in the beastly bucket compared to comparables today at give-or-take $50 million.

In our worst moments of panic from the late '80s to early '90s, we had nightmare scenarios that if the stock market could die at dawn, mightn't real estate, with all its furry peculations, do likewise and eventually wallow in the nadir of its own demise? Thankfully, we were spared.

The lower end of the market fell first and fast while the very top remained buoyant. Today, the scenario is somewhat different. The low end, already discounted in the last year, is developing some action for investors right now. This market segment includes properties under $1 million. As long as your neighbors aren't raising sugar cane or selling scrap metal from the back yard, it seems to me this type of investment is viable. Brokers who hawk these properties are busy making deals.

The upper end of the market is more complex. The few sales around the nation for $60-80 million are flukes. Less stratospheric transactions are still significant for the average Hamptons buyer contemplating a purchase of $10 million or higher. These buyers, not surprisingly, are just being more prudent than before. This is where sellers may be willing to make concessions. It seems to me, many homeowners in the $10-20 million range are sitting on some very nice profits. If so, they can shave a price and still feel good about it.