Hamptons a bargain for foreigners
It can cost up to $200,000 a month to rent a decent summer place in the Hamptons on Long Island. With the American economy in a slump, those rentals might go empty this year, but for the foreign exchange rate. Ashly Milne-Tyte reports.
On the beach in the Hamptons, N.Y. (Mat Szwajkos/CP/Getty Images for CP)
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Renita Jablonski: The housing meltdown apparently knows no boundaries. Even the Hamptons area of New York's Long Island is feeling the pinch. Homes sales there reportedly dropped around 40 percent during the first quarter of this year. Though, summer rentals are strong -- and an increasing number of those renters come from abroad. Ashley Milne-Tyte has more.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: A summer spent near the Hamptons' endless white beaches doesn't come cheap. Franz Muster runs the Hamptons office of real estate firm Engel and Volckers.
Franz Muster: I would say if you want to rent something decent in a good location it starts from $80,000 to $150,000 to sometimes $200,000 a month.
But this year, the exchange rate has made renting cheaper for many foreigners. Judy Desiderio of Town & Country Real Estate suspected the Wall Street crowd might be economizing this year. So she advertised abroad and quadrupled her foreign business. She says her international clients' expectations are just as high as Manhattanites'.
Judy Desiderio: They wanted 5,000 square feet, four or five bedrooms with a pool and a garage. Some actually came over with the demand that they needed staff in place at the house.
And who wanted a cook and a housekeeper? Who else but the Brits.
In New York, I'm Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
