Episode 270 - The Oakley-Leicht Team

July 16, 2026 | Discussing The New Wave Of Buyers In The Hamptons 

This week, we are welcomed by top-producing agents, Patty Oakley and Brian Leicht of The Oakley-Leicht Team at Saunders & Associates. 

The Hamptons real estate market is seeing a noticeable mid-July second wave, with open houses getting busier, new offers coming in, and summer renters reconsidering whether it may be time to buy. As more buyers spend time on the East End, urgency is returning—and well-priced homes are getting attention.

This week, we break down the latest Hamptons market activity, highlight standout listings in Water Mill and Bridgehampton, examine why strategic price reductions matter, and share fresh contract and sales-volume data. We also look at the $3 million to $5 million price range, where much of the current activity is concentrated, before rounding up some of the best East End events, restaurants, and casual dining spots for a peak-season weekend.

In this episode:

• Why Hamptons open houses are seeing more traffic and offers
• How mid-July brings new buyers and renewed market urgency
• What stands out about 14 Wood Edge Court in Water Mill
• A coming-soon Bridgehampton new construction home designed with a custom feel
• The price reduction at 125 Laurel Valley—and why even a small adjustment can make a difference
• Why sellers benefit from listening to experienced Hamptons real estate agents on pricing strategy
• The latest weekly contracts and dollar-volume numbers
• Why the $3 million to $5 million range remains a Hamptons market sweet spot
• Greek Festival details and other East End weekend events
• Restaurant and casual dining recommendations across the Hamptons

Happening in the Hamptons Podcast is sponsored by New York Title. 

About Happening in the Hamptons Real Estate Podcast

Happening in the Hamptons is powered by Saunders & Associates, the #1 locally owned real estate brokerage in the Hamptons, and Hamptons.com, the Hamptons’ leading lifestyle brand for what to do, where to go, and what’s happening across the East End.

Each week, Happening in the Hamptons covers the people, properties, market trends, events, restaurants, local businesses, charity happenings, arts and culture, and community stories shaping life on the East End. From Hamptons real estate and homes for sale to weekend events, waterfront living, village life, and local lifestyle coverage, the podcast brings a grounded, local perspective to one of the most iconic markets in the world.

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Transcript

Welcome And Market Pulse

Andrew Doud 0:08

All right everyone, it's Thursday. I'm Andrew Doud. Time for a Happening in the Hamptons podcast, our weekly breakdown of the Hamptons market, new listings and events on the East End. We are sponsored as always by New York Title Abstract, the Hamptons leading title insurance firm. Visit NewYorkTitle.com. We have Steve Glick, Dave Rattiner, and today return guests, Patty Oakley and Brian Leicht of the Oakley Leicht Team. How are you guys? Good morning. Good morning. A lot to get to.

The Mid-July Activity Wave

Andrew Doud 0:33

. Let's start with the wave. We were just talking before we started the podcast about how it feels like there's been another wave of activity in in the market. What are you guys seeing as far as listings, buyers, sellers? What's what's happening from your perspective as we get into the halfway point of July here?

Brian Leicht 0:53

Yeah, we're seeing definitely a uptick in activity. our open houses are being attended. We have Five Knoll Road in Southampton Cove, which we've been doing a bunch of open houses there and it's been kind of quiet. And then last week, out of the blue, we had eight, nine people come in. Wow. It was a big surprise. Big surprise. It was, you know, just really a quick turn from what we've had in the past as far as attendance and people coming to check out the property. So that was a big uptick. and it's generated a couple offers. So we're we're busy with that. And one tour, yeah, cooling.

Patty Oakley 1:33

You know, also when we look at where we're at, we're in the middle of July. So we've had this influx of new maybe people who haven't been out to the Hamptons maybe for their first time out, or they're repeating their year after year, and have decided, wow, this is a great place to be. Let's go buy a house. So now we're in mid-July, and you know, people are taking the time to look around and and maybe find the house that they can invest in and use for themselves, and then maybe put that up for rent too. So, you know, we've seen just still even aside from a sale activity, a big draw on rental activity still.

Brian Leicht 2:08

Yeah, July's been a busy month for rentals, I think. You know, the dynamics have changed in the rental market. So this July is prime time Hamptons.

Steve Glick 2:17

You know, we're enjoying, you know, like Andrew said, you know, we're in the middle of July and we're starting to see that second wave of like even new listings coming onto the market where people say, you know, look, I want to capture August. The these are the best months where the most eyes are on the property, so most people are out here enjoying the Hamptons. So if someone's thinking about putting the house on the market or if it's under construction, then they're figuring out the best time to put it on the market. We're seeing a lot of a lot of sellers say, okay, let's put it on the end of July, first weekend of August. Let's just try to capitalize on capturing this moment in the market. And for buyers, we are seeing a lot of activity. A lot of deals have been flowing through most recently in the past two weeks. Um, I think people are settled in enjoying the summer now, and now they're thinking about phase two, which is what should I purchase? What should I what are my plans for next season? Uh, should I rent it? Should I buy it? And they're thinking they want to purchase something and close by the end of the year. So now's the time if you look at the calendar months. So it's I call it we call it the second wave. The first wave came in right before Memorial Day, and now we're getting hit in a good way with the second wave as we come in into August.

Patty Oakley 3:28

We've definitely noticed that, you know, just a sudden burst of activity. So it's definitely in a wave motion.

Water Mill Listing In The Sweet Spot

Patty Oakley 3:34

And you know, we just brought on a new listing that we'd love to talk about.

Steve Glick 3:38

Sure.

Patty Oakley 3:38

14 Wood Edge Court in Watermill. You know, this is a beautiful community. And we've actually had a great uptake too. It's only been on the market for about maybe 10 days now. It's on 1.35 acres, and it's just a beautiful piece of land with a gunite pool and three bedrooms, open space, high ceilings. You know, it's a very exclusive street. And so if if people are looking to be a little private, but yet close to the beach and the village, this is a great one.

Steve Glick 4:09

What's it priced at?

Patty Oakley 4:10

4795.

Steve Glick 4:12

So would you say that's like that's like right in the sweet spot? That is a sweet spot. I feel like you know, years ago it was like, oh, you know, you get like two to three, but now that two to three creeped off from like three to five. And we're seeing a lot of activity in that price category. Um, even with deals going into contract as I run through the numbers. You know, there's you know, this past week I'm gonna go through it, but there were six in that three to five category, which is pretty is high when you look at all the other price categories. So that three to five million dollar market is very active. So I wouldn't be surprised you're getting a lot of calls and showings on 14 U.

Patty Oakley 4:43

This is priced well, you know, to have over an acre, excuse me, and be able to, you know, use it as is or expand later on or add a pool house and be on it called the sack street. The backyard. It's a big drawer. It's absolutely gorgeous. And you know, many people are exploring different areas outside of the village or the villages, I should say. So, you know, this is a great place to be. You know, give us a ring. If you have inquiries, you know, would like to see it. You know, we're we're it's easily accessible.

Andrew Doud 5:13

This and of course, all our listings available on Saunders.com or Hamptons Real Estate.com. Any other listings you want to catch up on?

Coming Soon Luxury Build Buzz

Brian Leicht 5:21

We have maybe coming soon that I'd like to mention Paul's Lane. It's it's an absolutely spectacular house. 479. 479 479 Paul's Lane coming soon. The ask price is gonna be 21995. Okay. And it we've represented this builder Parlato development in the past, and they just really do a very different product than it does not read like a spec house. It's a this is a custom spec house, and it is fully furnished as well. Um, so we'll have more information on that as it comes. But if you'd like to get in first, soon, yeah, reach out to us.

Steve Glick 6:09

I can't wait to see the finished product. We've been watching it get built, looking at the plans, the renderings, and I can't wait to see like the unveiling of what this masterpiece looks like. Like you said, it does not look like a spec house at all. That word, throw it out. It's yeah, it's curated, it's designed perfectly, attention to detail all throughout the house. And great spot. You'll see that as you walk through, looking at the bathrooms, the finishes, the the type of marble, how they did the kitchen, their stairwell. It's all perfectly done and executed. And you know, what I like about Parlato, they're gonna launch this when it's completed.

Brian Leicht 6:44

When it's completed, absolutely fantastic.

Steve Glick 6:47

The first impression is the most important thing ever. And obviously, we see a lot of new constructions come on the market with renderings or during the construction phase, which is totally fine. Um, they're they're very particular and they say, look, we're ready to launch when we're ready and it's perfect, that's where we want to hit the market. And we're all excited to see it. I can't wait to get in there and I'm waiting. I don't want to see it right now. I want to wait to till it's yeah, we've already had people reaching out, yeah.

Brian Leicht 7:15

You know, there's a line out the door that you guys launched. There's a big buzz around this house. That's exciting. So there'll be a lot of attention out of it.

Patty Oakley 7:22

And you're just wow. Yeah, it is it's something to be seen. And again, you know that this is gonna be coming pretty soon. So look out for it.

Andrew Doud 7:30

Yep.

Patty Oakley 7:30

Yep.

Andrew Doud 7:30

Nice. I have here 125

Price Cuts That Trigger Demand

Andrew Doud 7:32

Laurel Valley. is that something you guys want to touch on today?

Patty Oakley 7:35

Yeah, this is a great new construction that we've been promoting for a while now, and we recently reduced it to 100,000. So we're just a little bit over five million. And we are at the present time putting in a hot true tennis court.

Steve Glick 7:47

Great.

Patty Oakley 7:48

It's a five-bedroom house on three levels, and again, this is a great opportunity. And we were speaking about the wave, and we've noticed the wave on this one. You know, that price reduction just you know stirred more activity, and we have some sincere, serious interest right now. Uh, but this is another one where if you want a nice lodge house, new modern home with tennis at you know, five million plus five two nine nine, you know, it's really just been a great value.

Steve Glick 8:18

This one checks all the boxes. It's the location is ideal because you can get to anywhere. You get to quickly sag Harbor Village, you get down to Southampton. Um, new construction, and it checks all the boxes with the elevator, the tennis, the pool, the finishes, the modern you know, style to it. It's it's a one of one and it's it's definitely unique.

Brian Leicht 8:38

It's very private, and it's private, and it's one of the few houses in that area, it's in Northside Hills that actually has tennis, a full tennis tennis square.

Steve Glick 8:48

So I love to hear that you get more activity on this. Um, and certainly, you know, when even the re the smallest reduction just sparks new interest, you know. Sure. And we tend to see that a lot, you know, if a listing is on the market and it's not getting the looks, just a little reduction sets out the alerts, tells everybody that, hey, look, we're we have a seller that is willing to that wants to sell and and is willing to listen to offers. So I'm excited to hear that you know you guys are getting some calls on this. It's a beautiful house, and I'm sure that you're gonna the activity will continue to pick up as we come into August.

Patty Oakley 9:20

Well, I think that's just a great point for sellers. You know, for all the sellers out there that are listening to this podcast today, you know, really let's listen to the agents when they're guiding you with pricing. Yeah. Because it's very important if you want to sell within the next couple of months and we're not getting showings and we're not getting offers, then you know, we have to look at everything and and and if everything's done with marketing, then we have to look at the price.

Steve Glick 9:41

Yeah, the market will speak. Like if you look at your listing presentations, you guys do it you know better than anybody with the photos, the videos, the brochures, the all the assets, the social media, the marketing. We do it great. And if you're still not achieving, you know, what you're you're trying to achieve, and you're not getting the offers, whatever, then you have to look at the price a little bit closely. Not saying to do a drastic reduction, just sometimes just something small. You know, you start small and and you see where it goes. And like you said, that that worked perfectly for this property.

Brian Leicht 10:12

I think despite the inventory being on the historically low side where we are, I don't I don't anticipate or see that inventory changing, shrinking. Well, things are coming up, we get things are coming up, comes on and then they come right off. We get 25 new listings come on the market and 20 of them go into contract. So we're kind of in this balancing act. So even despite the low inventory, like we were just talking, people are still price conscious, and the buyer is very educated. Um, so I think pricing is key.

Patty Oakley 10:44

Yeah.

Dave Rattiner 10:44

But going back to what Patty was saying, you know, you want to listen to your agent, but you want to make sure they're a competent agent like you two.

Patty Oakley 10:51

Well, that's why experience matters.

Dave Rattiner 10:53

Experience matters. That should be the bag line. Don't listen to the agents. Don't listen to the agents that say, yeah, let's listen, you know, way overpriced and just yeah, well, sometimes agents do that to get listed. It's just horrible when you see that. Yeah, it's just horrible when you see that.

Steve Glick 11:07

Sometimes agents do that to get listings, sometimes the sellers just want to have it on. They don't really need to sell. Right.

Dave Rattiner 11:16

You know, you're you're looking out for these people. You're welcome.

Patty Oakley 11:20

Yeah.

Andrew Doud 11:20

There you go.

Dave Rattiner 11:20

That's what I do.

Andrew Doud 11:21

well, we've okay, so a lot of a lot of great inventory on your

Weekly Contracts Inventory And Volume

Andrew Doud 11:26

end. Steve, let's talk about the big picture. You touched on the numbers a lot.

Steve Glick 11:29

Yeah, we touched on numbers twice in this conversation. Um, 25 listings went into contract. Last year there was also 25, so no change year over year. Two years ago, there were 30 listings, so a small decrease of 17%. The breakdown of the 25 transactions, one between 15 and 20 million, one between 10 and 15, 7 between 5 and 10, and 6 between 3 and 5. So I was telling you that sweet spot in that three to five market, three between two and three, five between one and two, and there were two deals under a million. The dollar volume this past week was 115 million dollars. Last year it was 105 million, so an increase of 10%. Two years ago, the dollar volume was 81 million, increase there of 42%. Um, the new listings coming on pretty much the same as what went into contract. There are 28 new listings that came on, increased the inventory by just three listings, and the breakdown of the 28 new listings, one over 20 million, two between 10 and 15, four between five and ten. Again, that sweet spot, the three to five million dollar category, 11 new listings came on in that price range. Four between two and three, five between one and two, and one under a million. Inventory total is seventeen hundred and thirty-nine active just under 1400 with 1,378 active and about 361 in contract. So everything we just spoke about earlier is here in the data. Numbers don't lie. Numbers don't lie.

Weekend Events Worth Planning Around

Andrew Doud 12:54

so what do you got going on? This is like this is peak summer. Peak season, yeah.

Dave Rattiner 12:59

This weekend, this weekend, if you're hungry, this is a good weekend if you're hungry, man. The there's the Greek festival this weekend, July 16th to the 23rd. runs all well, 4 p.m. into the evening, 11 11 p.m.

Steve Glick 13:13

you went to that years ago, right?

Dave Rattiner 13:15

Yeah, it's at the Orthodox Church in Southampton. It's beautiful, man. It's so nice. It's great for it. It's a great thing to do. Well, that's like the primary. You just go there and eat food. Well, no, that's fine. That's not all you do. Like they have like little stupid games, and you're there for the food, let's just be honest. If you're going there with your kid, and music you send yeah, you send your kid off, and you're like, all right, go, you know, do the balloon or whatever, you know, whatever. But then you just eat your face off. They have music too. That's what you do. Yeah, you just eat your face. And the but the food is so good. They have the what is it called? The spa spaganaka or something, you know what I'm talking about? Oh it's like fried cheese with honey on it. It's incredible.

Steve Glick 13:58

well we'll be looking forward to the review.

Dave Rattiner 14:01

Yeah, we'll do a food review.

Steve Glick 14:02

Yes, you have to do a good review, Dave.

Dave Rattiner 14:04

But yeah, yeah, so you gotta go there, the Greek Festival, that's in Southampton. You must do that. Then you also can do on July 18th, Saunders and Associate sponsors from 9 30 to 12 30 p.m. at CME at 376 Bridgehampton Turnpike, the Children's Museum of the East End. This is an unbelievably fun party. Um, there are slides, there are games, there are face painting, and you could even adopt a dog like Andrew Dowd did last year.

Andrew Doud 14:34

Yes, you can do that. That is an option.

Dave Rattiner 14:38

Don't do that. Do not adopt a dog. Well, actually, no, I shouldn't say that. Do it, do adopt a dog.

Andrew Doud 14:44

He's been a good dog.

Dave Rattiner 14:45

He's a good dog. Yeah, yeah. Do adopt a dog. Well, this is a great event. This is a great event.

Steve Glick 14:49

I think Saunders has been sponsoring this event for man, I'm gonna go on. As long as I've been here. I would say at least 15 years. Okay. It's been our we're the main sponsor. We love doing it every year. And shout out to Andrew Dowd's wife, Sarah Dowd. She'll be there sponsoring the event with the kiddos. Um, it's a family fun fair, and it's it's a great time. It's a great time. Food trucks, there'll be a lot of food trucks, a lot of food. That's what I love.

Dave Rattiner 15:14

You know, good pizza food ice cream activities, yeah, double nine yards.

Andrew Doud 15:17

Yep.

Dave Rattiner 15:17

there's a great playground in the back. And see, you know, see maybe CME's a real gift to the Hamptons for you know for kids. It's it's a great thing. So you could do that, or if you're in the mood to party it up at the surf lodge, you can go see G Love on if you're looking for the complete opposite to the surf lodge. G Love he's gonna be playing 5 p.m. So go check out the surf lodge. I won't make my my joke of H Love, his brother. I won't make that joke. He just did it. yeah, my bad. never

Restaurant Picks And Local Favorites

Dave Rattiner 15:53

mind. and in terms of restaurants, man, where did we go? We went to San Ambrose in Southampton. We're giving San Ambrose the shout-out for this week and Calliss's and Watermill the shout-out for this week. Two unbelievable restaurants. We had a great time. And the new restaurant has opened in Sag Harbor called Faraway that I think I'm gonna try. Have you heard about that one? Faraway, not we have another one. Faraway or Faraway? Faraway. Faraway? Farah? Faraway? Hang on, consulting the internet. That's the next one up.

Steve Glick 16:22

What type of food is that? Yeah, what kind of food is that? It's a good question.

Dave Rattiner 16:24

it's very good food. That's the next one up. Is it Greek? I think that's the next one up. I'm gonna I think I might go there. I might go there tonight. All right, we'll get it.

Steve Glick 16:32

That's some your favorite restaurant.

Dave Rattiner 16:34

Oh, yeah, what's your favorite restaurant?

Patty Oakley 16:39

I love the Bell and Anchor.

Dave Rattiner 16:40

Oh, the Bell and Anchor. But you know what? Let me just tell you.

Patty Oakley 16:42

If you're looking, I have something else to add. You got a new one. A new one this week. So yeah, I'm a big cook. I love to gather up my house and cook. It's you know, it's the Italian in me. What can I tell you? But when we do go out, we love to go to Bell and Anchor and we love to go to Sag Harbor. I love Paige in Sag Harbor. I haven't been there yet this season. Okay, good. But I have a nice one in Southampton that is so affordable and so fresh, and that's Chippy's.

Steve Glick 17:08

Oh, I love Chippy's.

Patty Oakley 17:09

You can go if you want more of a casual, but you can get burgers.

Steve Glick 17:13

They might be getting burgers and huge TV. And he was he was on Instagram, the owner, and he was saying, come here and watch the world. They played every World Cup game. Yeah. This weekend, they're two great games, right? Saturday and Sunday. So if you have so if you're looking for something to do, three o'clock, shippies, that is a great place to learn.

Patty Oakley 17:31

You know, they're expanding, they're gonna be having a back takeout kitchen, for what I understand. And then they're going to be doing a second story, is gonna be more of like an elegant dining.

Steve Glick 17:42

Oh. So they're gonna have three different parts of the suit coat required kind of thing. But it was packed.

Patty Oakley 17:48

We were there the other night with friends, and it was packed, and the service was great. It's a great crowd, yeah.

Steve Glick 17:53

Beer's cold, the food is good. The food is hot and the beer is cold.

Patty Oakley 17:56

And then you can, you know, walk the village and walk off what you just ate and go get some ice cream. You can run over to St. Ambrose or to Corvel or whatever. So it's it's a nice place. Or Budaberry. Budaber's in Southampton.

Brian Leicht 18:06

Yeah, Budaber, what's your food? I don't know. I'm going to my back to Zen over there. Well, Sen? Yeah, Sen is great in SAG. Classics. You got to go up to Budaberry for a little refresher afterwards.

Dave Rattiner 18:23

Yeah, take a walk down, check out the yachts. That waterfront's beautiful. You can after you eat, you go take a nice little walk around too. Absolutely.

Steve Glick 18:29

And you don't feel guilty when you eat Budaber.

Dave Rattiner 18:31

That's exactly what it's got I walked. It's yogurt, it's frozen yogurt.

Brian Leicht 18:34

It's good.

Steve Glick 18:34

It's frozen yogurt, it's healthy.

Brian Leicht 18:35

It's healthy. Check out the yachts, walk around the waterfront down there. It's absolutely beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful.

Patty Oakley 18:43

You can also go to Bay Street, which has Cagney. I heard this was great. We're going to go. We heard it was phenomenal. That's what I hear. That's what everyone's been saying. Go see the show. Go support Bay Street and then go have dinner and go to Butterbury.

Steve Glick 18:54

Yeah.

Patty Oakley 18:55

There you go. Late night.

Steve Glick 18:56

Sweet. It's a good weekend right there.

Dave Rattiner 18:58

You're welcome.

Final Thoughts And Sign-Off

Andrew Doud 18:59

All right. Anything else before we let you guys go?

Patty Oakley 19:02

I think we're good.

Andrew Doud 19:03

Good. That's it. Thank you for joining us. all right, we'll call that a podcast. Everybody, have a great day, have a great weekend. I am Andrew Dowd. Thank you both. That's what's happening in the Hamptons.