REAL ESTATE

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That doesn't mean that sellers won't try to ride the last hurrah of a wild market: Brennan, whose big deals this year included a $31 million sale in Bridgehampton, predicts inventory will grow into the fall months. As for the standoff between seller and buyers—who have spent the last few months cooling their heels—the fall season will be all about "who blinks first," he says.

If many overpriced homes are still sitting on the market, there are some fabulous pads worth their sky-high figures, notes Judi Desiderio, president of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton. She has the exclusive listing for a $12 million oceanfront home on Marine Boulevard in Amagansett. "There are still some excellent homes on the market," agrees Gary DePersia of Allan Schneider/Corcoran's East End office. DePersia has an $8.5 million listing in East Hampton that just went into a contract after only two weeks on the market.

According to Desiderio, who recently released a report on sales in the Hamptons for the first six months of 2006, the luxury market ($10 million and up) has largely been unaffected by market changes (although there is some worry about a glut of expensive spec houses, she believes). But the stock of $3 million-and-under homes "is one of the softest markets right now because those buyers are waiting to see if prices drop," she says. "But those prices aren't dropping."

DePersia, whose listings include 14 homes priced at $5 million and under, notes, "Buyers are all waiting for us to hang a for-sale sign, but there isn't going to be any sale sign." He adds that fall buyers should get in quicker, rather than later. "The best properties will be snatched up by November," he says. —D.S.