Why Does the Sag Harbor Median Swing So Wildly? Reading Redfin, Realtor.com, Zillow and the Seasonal Home Count

Why do the Sag Harbor price figures differ so much?

Count first, then compare. Redfin's page says four homes sold in August, against seven a year earlier, while a box on the same page shows a total of three. Redfin's three-month median of $4.3M therefore rests on a small number of sales, and the August snapshot of $4.41M is the price of one or two deals. Realtor.com's $4,410,000 for September matches that figure to the dollar, so the same sale or sales likely appear on both pages, and its jump of 110% in a month is what a single large closing does to a median.

Year-earlier values show how much the picture depends on the sample. Redfin's rise of 74.6% implies about $2,463,000 a year ago, the August snapshot's rise of 239.2% implies about $1,300,000, and Realtor.com's rise of 155.65% implies about $1,725,000. Three pages, three different starting points for the same year, spread over a factor of almost two. Values did not move from $2.4M to $4.3M in a year; a different mix of homes sold in each window.

The Zillow index is the calm number. It rose 5.4% in a year, which implies about $2,294,000 a year earlier, and the Realtor.com listing median rose 5.65%, which implies about $3,644,000. Those two figures move at nearly the same pace, 5.4% and 5.65%, even though their levels differ by 59.2%, computed here. The agreement on direction is the useful finding: the underlying level of values, as both measure it, rose by something near 5% in a year, and the 74.6% and 155.65% figures are noise on top of that.

The Census figure is lower again. The median owner value of $1,208,000, plus or minus $96,451, is 28.1% of the Redfin median and 49.9% of the Zillow index, computed here. Owners estimate their own homes, the survey averages five years, and the postal area includes many smaller and older homes, so it runs low. It is still useful as a floor for a typical home, and it shows how wide the range of homes is.

One more distinction is worth drawing between a village and a postal area. Redfin's page is for Sag Harbor as a named place. The Realtor.com, Zillow and Census figures are for a postal area that can include homes outside the village limits, and the pages do not say how many. The wider area likely includes more modest homes, which is consistent with its lower index and its owner value. A seller inside the village should lean on Redfin for the neighborhood picture and on the other two for direction.

For a seller, the practical point is that no median describes one house. In a village where a waterfront or harbor-view property can sell for several times the price of an inland cottage, the most valuable evidence is the closed price of one or two truly comparable homes. A published headline of $4.3M or $4.41M should not anchor a price any more than $2,418,269 should.

Sources as cited. Ratios and year-earlier values in this section are computed from the published figures and percentages.

How long do Sag Harbor homes take to sell, and who is buying?

Slowly, and with discounts. Redfin calls Sag Harbor not very competitive, with a Compete Score of 26 over 12 months. It says multiple offers are rare, the average home sells about 3% below list price and goes pending in around 108 days, and the hottest homes sell about 1% below list in around 42 days. Its three-month figures show 161 days on market against 53 a year earlier, a rise of 108 days, or a factor of 3.0, computed here. Its snapshot box shows 107.5 days and a ratio it labels as under list price at 3.1%.

Realtor.com agrees on slowness. It shows 100 days on market for the postal area, up 42.31%, which implies about 70 a year earlier, and active listings of 141, down 41.70%, which implies about 242 a year earlier, a fall of about 101 homes. The median listing price of $3,850,000 is up 5.65%, and its per-foot price of $1,325 is up 13.99%, which implies about $1,162 a year earlier. Fewer homes are for sale, they are slower to sell and asking prices are higher. That combination suggests that sellers are holding for price and buyers are being choosy.

The neighboring town offers a contrast. Redfin's reading for East Hampton scores 70, which it calls very competitive, with many homes getting multiple offers, some with waived contingencies, an average sale about 4% above list in around 32 days and hot homes about 11% above list in around 11 days. A seller should not assume that a hot reading for one Hamptons village applies to another. Sag Harbor, on the data, is a different market from East Hampton, and its pace is far slower.

A thin market has a particular risk for sellers. When few homes sell, each unsold listing is highly visible, and a price cut is noticed by every agent who follows the village. A home that sits for 160 days reads as a problem house even when the only problem was the first price. Time itself costs money in carrying costs, taxes and insurance, and the page figures cannot say how much for any one house.

Buyers face their own version of the problem. A buyer who reads that the median is $4.3M, and then sees a $2.4M index, cannot tell which is the right anchor, and many will ask for a discount to the asking price just to be safe. That fits the roughly 3% average discount Redfin reports, and it fits the 108-day time to pending. A seller who understands that the discount is common can price with it in mind instead of reading each offer as an insult.

There is also a mismatch of purpose. The data describe homes bought and sold, but nearly four in ten units in the postal area are held for seasonal use. The owner of a second home does not have to sell by any date, which supports prices when markets soften, and often means that sellers refuse offers rather than cut. That is an inference from the Census count, not a finding of the pages.

Sources as cited. Year-earlier values and differences are computed from the published percentages.

What does the seasonal home count change for a seller?

The Census shows that Sag Harbor is a seasonal place. Of 6,403 housing units in the postal area, 3,613 are occupied year-round, 56.4%, and 2,790 are vacant, 43.6%. Of those vacant units, 2,634, or 94.4%, are held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use, which is 41.1% of all units. Only 17 are for sale only, 7 are for rent, 32 are sold and not yet occupied and 97 are held for other reasons.

What that does to a market is plain. Four in ten homes are not anyone's main home, so demand follows the season, and so do listings. Realtor.com's median rent of $40,000 a month, down 5.33% in a year, compares with a Census median rent of $2,969 for year-round renters. The two are about 13.5 times apart, computed here, and the likely reason is that the first reflects short-term and seasonal summer rentals of larger houses, which is an inference because the page does not say. A year-round renter is a different household from a summer tenant.

For sellers, the season shapes timing. A home listed in the fall, after the summer visitors leave, may be seen by fewer people, while a home listed in spring is seen by buyers who are planning for the summer. Redfin's three-month window ending in August captures the summer, and it shows only four homes sold in the month. That is another reason to read the figures with care: a summer that looks quiet in sales may reflect contracts signed in the spring and not yet closed.

The occupied homes are mostly owned. Of 3,613 occupied homes, 3,025 are owner-occupied, 83.7%, and 588 are rented, 16.3%. The population is 8,390, with 18.6% under 18, 3.7% between 18 and 24, 4.3% between 25 and 34, 14.8% between 35 and 44, 27.5% between 45 and 64 and 31.1% aged 65 or older, computed here. A village with few young adults and many people past 45 is a place where homes tend to be held for a long time.

Seasonal ownership has one more effect on privacy. A second-home owner often values discretion: the home is a personal place, and a public sale announces both the address and the owner's decision. A private sale has no showings, no signs and no neighbors talking about it. That is the first of the five benefits of selling off-market, and in a village where most homes are not full-time residences it carries more weight than in most.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25002, B25004, B25003 and B01001, via Census Reporter. Shares are computed here.

What do tenure, costs and the age of the homes say about owners?

Owners have stayed a long time. Of 3,025 owner households, 17 moved in during 2023 or later and 450 between 2020 and 2022, so 467, or 15.4%, moved in since 2020. Another 751, 24.8%, moved in between 2010 and 2019, 502, 16.6%, between 2000 and 2009, 586, 19.4%, between 1990 and 1999 and 719, 23.8%, in 1989 or earlier. Those who moved in before 2010 make up 59.7% of owners. Among renters, 70.6% moved in between 2010 and 2019.

Costs fall unevenly. Of 3,021 owner households with computed costs, 1,154, or 38.2%, spent 30% or more of income on housing. Among 1,660 owners with a mortgage, 891, or 53.7%, did so, and 602, or 36.3%, spent half or more. Among 1,361 owners without a mortgage, 263, or 19.3%, spent 30% or more, and 142, or 10.4%, spent half or more. Of owners, 54.9% have a mortgage and 45.1% do not. Among 548 renter households with a computed burden, 284, or 51.8%, spent 30% or more.

The high burden among owners with mortgages should be read with the income figure. The median household income is $127,746, and a home worth the Zillow index of $2,418,269 is far above what that income supports by ordinary rules. Many owners are retired, part-time or have income from outside the village, and the Census income figure counts only income in the past year. That is an inference. It does mean that some owners carry heavy costs and may welcome a quick, certain sale.

The stock is old and varied. The median build year is 1978, 52.0% of homes were built before 1980, and 15.2% were built before 1940, which is 973 units. Another 18.1% were built in the 1950s. Only 6.8% date from 2010 or later. A village where about one home in seven is more than eighty years old has historic cottages as well as newer houses, and buyers' inspectors test their wiring, foundations, septic systems and roofs.

Houses dominate. Of the units, 5,927 are detached houses, 92.6%, and 119 are attached, so 94.4% are houses. Owner homes are large: 82.2% have three or more bedrooms and 40.0% have four or more, with 11.5% having five or more. Of renters, 20.6% live in homes with no bedroom or one bedroom. Large houses on large lots are the norm, which is why the market is so sensitive to a few sales. Readers comparing markets can also read the Scarsdale brief and the Dix Hills brief.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25038, B25091, B25070, B25042, B25034 and B25024, via Census Reporter. Shares are computed here.

What should a Sag Harbor owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

Five questions are worth asking. What did truly similar homes nearby close for? How long will a sale take at a realistic price, and what does waiting cost? What will the fees be? How much of the price survives the buyer's inspection and survey? Who will see the home, and who will know it is for sale?

Fees are simple arithmetic and no rate is assumed here. Each 1% of a $3,000,000 sale is $30,000, of a $5,000,000 sale is $50,000 and of a $7,000,000 sale is $70,000. Three percent is $90,000, $150,000 and $210,000, and five percent is $150,000, $250,000 and $350,000. A seller can put their own quoted costs into those rows. On the Redfin median of $4.3M, 1% is $43,000, and on the Realtor.com sold median of $4,410,000 it is $44,100.

At those prices a fee is the largest cost a seller can control. It is also a cost that arrives in a market where the average home sells about 3% below list price and takes about 108 days to go pending, so a seller who lists pays for marketing and carrying time and may still give a discount. The second benefit, a closing date that suits the seller, and the third and fourth, no commission costs and no closing costs, answer those costs directly.

Condition is the fifth question. With more than half the homes built before 1980 and about one in seven before 1940, a buyer's inspection is likely to find items, and a seller who waits 100 days or more for a buyer can expect to negotiate repairs at the end. A private buyer that agrees to buy a home as it stands avoids inspection repairs.

Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. It does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and when four sources give prices that differ by a factor of almost two, an owner is right to compare an offer with what the same home would net after costs. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a home in Sag Harbor, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Sources as cited. Fee illustrations are arithmetic only and assume no commission rate.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The Redfin page is for the three months ending August 2026, with competition readings over 12 months for Sag Harbor and six months for East Hampton. The Realtor.com page is for September 2026 and the Zillow page was updated August 31, 2026. Both of those cover a postal area, not the village. Redfin's page prints four homes sold in August in its text and three in a snapshot box, and both are reported as printed. Only established data publishers and the Census are cited. The Census figures are five-year estimates for the postal area that includes Sag Harbor. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios, sums, fee figures and year-earlier values are this brief's arithmetic.

Conclusion

The record for Sag Harbor shows medians from $2,418,269 to $4,410,000, a median sale that rests on a handful of homes, 100 to 161 days on market, a typical sale about 3% below list and 41.1% of homes held for seasonal use. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale of a truly similar property, and a private buyer can price the home in front of them.