On the documented evidence, the answer runs the other way, but only as a tendency and never as a number. No percentage split between north and south Southampton is published in this research, and this report states that limit plainly rather than inventing one. What the research does document is qualitative: new construction prices in 11968 vary by village versus south-of-the-highway location, ocean proximity, and lot size, with new builds on standard lots selling from 3,500,000 to 8,000,000 dollars across those settings (Redfin, 2026). Ocean and village proximity is the first driver of land value in the sample analysis, lot size is the second, and the Manhattan second home bid is the third (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Because the premium ground in Southampton clusters toward the ocean side of the market, southern locations tend to carry the higher values, while a large northern lot can still outprice a small southern one. Direction is a proxy. The drivers underneath it are the price.
Key Findings
- No north versus south percentage split exists in the source research for 11968, so this question is answered by method and the limit is stated openly (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The documented premium is qualitative: new build prices vary by village versus south-of-the-highway location, ocean proximity, and lot size (Redfin, 2026).
- In the sample analysis, ocean and village proximity is the first driver of residual land value and lot size is the second (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The sample itself was drawn across the whole ZIP: 16 pre-1981 homes, 13 of them acquired by builders, with no separate northern and southern price series published (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- Block by block variation inside Southampton is large enough that any single directional average would misprice individual streets in both directions (Zillow, 2026).
What does the research actually document about location inside 11968?
Begin with what exists. The sample compiled for this series covered 16 older homes across Southampton village and the surrounding town streets inside 11968, and it reported one market, not two: an average older home price of 23.3 percent of the new build price on a comparable lot, and a builder demand rate of 81.2 percent (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The research did not publish a northern subsample and a southern subsample with separate averages. Any writer who quotes a precise north discount or a south premium in percentage terms for this ZIP is supplying a number the underlying study does not contain.
What the study does supply is a ranking of drivers. Ocean and village proximity comes first in its analysis of residual value, lot size comes second, and the Manhattan second home bid comes third (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Read geographically, that ranking loads value toward the ocean side of the ZIP and toward the village, both of which sit in the southern part of the market as residents use the terms north and south. The south-of-the-highway phrase in the new build record makes the same point in market language: location relative to the highway and the ocean is one of the named reasons new builds range from 3,500,000 to 8,000,000 dollars rather than clustering at one price (Redfin, 2026).
Press coverage of the Southampton luxury market follows the same geography, following the premium streets and the ocean side demand that sets the top of the range (Wall Street Journal, 2026). The first quarter 2026 Hamptons reporting recorded prices rising even as sales declined across the wider market, which is consistent with scarce premium locations holding value while transaction volume thins elsewhere (James Lane Post, 2026). None of those sources converts the pattern into a percentage. They establish direction and mechanism, and this report stays inside what they establish. The street level companion to this question is what older homes are selling for in the south-of-the-highway area, which works from the same documented range.
How should an owner compare a northern and a southern home by method?
The method has four steps, each tied to a record. First, fix the lot facts from the town assessor: parcel dimensions, zoning, and assessed land value for both properties (Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026). Second, set those facts against the county parcel and assessment record, which provides an independent official view of the same ground (Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, 2026). Third, pull recorded deeds for closed sales on comparable streets in each area, because deeds record what was paid rather than what was asked (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026). Fourth, convert the comparison into the residual frame the builders themselves use, asking what new build price each lot can support given its ocean proximity and size.
That fourth step is where the north and south question usually resolves itself. The worked residual illustration in the research takes a 4,500,000 dollar new build sale, subtracts roughly 1,600,000 dollars in construction costs and a builder margin near 20 percent, and leaves residual land value near 2,000,000 to 2,300,000 dollars before site preparation of 40,000 to 60,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Apply the illustration honestly and the lot that supports the higher new build price, which is usually the lot closer to the ocean or the village, supports the higher land value, whichever compass label it wears. The illustration is simplified and is not a promise, and it should be rebuilt with the actual new build prices on the streets being compared, drawn from recent sold data (Redfin, 2026).
Census material plays a supporting role in the method. Town level QuickFacts describe the community whose housing market is being split into north and south, and they remind the reader that 11968 is one town market with one demographic profile, not two towns (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025). That is a further reason to distrust a dramatic percentage split: the population, the services, and the buyer origin are shared. What differs is distance to the water and to the village center, measured lot by lot. The wider frame for the sample is described in the coverage overview.
When can a northern home be worth more than a southern one?
Often enough that the tendency should never be quoted as a rule. Lot size is the second ranked driver in the research, and many Southampton parcels run far larger than the 10,890 square foot sample minimum, some carrying subdivision potential (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026). A two acre northern parcel with room for a substantial new build, or with subdivision potential documented in its zoning, can support a higher residual than a small southern lot hemmed in by its setbacks. In that pairing the compass points one way and the money points the other, and the money is right.
Condition and house value can also invert the comparison for a retail buyer, though less so for a builder. Walk the village center, the roads closest to the water, or the long settled hamlet lanes and the pattern repeats, with cottages and ranch houses from the 1950s and 1960s sitting beside recent shingle style houses built out almost to their setback limits (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A well kept northern cottage sold to a household that will live in it is a different asset from a southern teardown candidate, and the two should not be averaged together. Automated estimates are particularly unhelpful in these pairings, because Southampton value changes block by block and a radius based estimate averages two different markets into a single figure that fits neither (Zillow, 2026).
The honest summary is distributional. The center of gravity of value in 11968 sits toward the ocean and the village, the sample documents that qualitatively, and individual lots depart from it in both directions for documented reasons. Sellers in the northern part of the ZIP should therefore not discount their expectations by an invented percentage, and sellers in the south should not add one either. Both should price from deeds, assessor facts, and the new build prices their own streets support. The village focused companion report, whether older homes in Southampton Village are worth more as teardowns, applies the same discipline to the village streets specifically.
What would a proper north and south study have to contain?
A proper study would begin by refusing the postal shortcut. It would take closed sales inside 11968 over several seasons, attach the assessor lot record to each one, and sort the results by measured distance to the ocean and to the village center rather than by a line drawn for convenience (Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026). It would separate retail sales to households from builder acquisitions, because the sample shows those two buyer types pricing different attributes, with builders acquiring 13 of 16 older homes on land logic (Frontier Capitals, 2026). And it would report lot size alongside every price, since size ranks second among the documented drivers and a comparison that ignores it will credit the compass with effects that belong to acreage (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Until such a study exists, the quarterly pattern in the wider Hamptons offers a useful discipline for anyone tempted to improvise one from listings. Prices rose across the wider market in a quarter when sales declined, which means a snapshot of asking prices in any single month reflects the mix of what happens to be offered, not the relative value of two halves of one ZIP (James Lane Post, 2026). Listing portals carry the same distortion into the north and south question, because their tracked values in 11968 move with whichever segment supplied the recent closings (Zillow, 2026). A seller reading a portal average for his half of the market may therefore be reading the echo of three ocean road sales or of none, with no way to tell from the average itself.
The deed record is the corrective, and it is available to anyone willing to use it. Recorded deeds sorted by street, read with the county assessment for each parcel, produce the beginnings of the proper study for the two or three streets a given seller actually competes on (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026; Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, 2026). That local version of the method is less grand than a published percentage and considerably more useful, because a home is sold against its street, not against a directional theory. Southampton sellers have always known this instinctively when they describe a house by its road rather than by its half of the map; the method in this report simply gives the instinct its paperwork.
What does the direct route offer a seller on either side of the line?
The five documented benefits of a direct sale apply identically in north and south Southampton, and for a northern seller they carry a particular point: a builder bid prices the specific lot, not the directional average. Privacy comes first, with zero showings and zero open houses and no public marketing period, a real consideration in a village where a for-sale sign is a public event on the social circuit. Flexible closing follows, at 7 to 21 days when speed serves the seller, or months out with a leaseback, rather than a full selling season or longer for a listed older home (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
No commissions is the third benefit: the typical 5 to 6 percent is 100,000 to 120,000 dollars on a 2,000,000 dollar sale, kept by the seller instead (National Association of Realtors, 2025). No seller closing costs is the fourth, removing the typical 1 to 2 percent in seller side charges and bringing the combined saving to 120,000 to 160,000 dollars on that sale. No inspections or repairs is the fifth, with the house sold as it stands and none of the 10,000 to 30,000 dollar repair credits the owner brief documents. For a northern owner who suspects an agent would price his home with a directional discount, a set of builder bids on the actual lot is the cleanest test available, and it costs nothing but the conversation. That conversation can be started on the contact page.
How should a direct buyer be checked before his bid is used as evidence?
A bid used to settle the north versus south question must be a real bid, from a buyer who closes. Frontier Capitals is a wholesaler that sources off-market deals to builders, and it discloses that role; the verification steps in this research apply to it and to any competing bidder. Proof of funds in the buyer name, dated within the last 30 days, is the first requirement, and neither a pre-approval nor a private lender letter substitutes for it. Recorded deeds in the buyer entity name, checkable in county records, show a history of completed purchases at the relevant scale (Suffolk County Clerk, 2026).
Earnest money of typically 1 percent or more, forfeited if the buyer walks away, and a contract with no assignment clause complete the check. The opposite pairing, an assignment clause with a token deposit, is the signature of a contract that was never meant to close, and a valuation argument built on such a bid is built on paper. A seller comparing two areas should collect verified bids or none, because one genuine closing price from the deed record is worth more to the comparison than a folder of indicative numbers.
Methodology and limitations
This report answers by method because the source research publishes no north versus south percentage split for 11968, and that limit is stated here as plainly as in the opening section. The underlying sample is 16 pre-1981 homes with 13 builder acquisitions, drawn across the ZIP as a single market with an average older home price of 23.3 percent of new build (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The south-of-the-highway premium is documented qualitatively through the new build price range and the ranked drivers of residual value, not as a measured percentage, and no figure in this report should be quoted as such a percentage. Owners who need a tighter answer for a specific pair of properties should commission the deed and assessor comparison described above for those two lots (Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026; Suffolk County Clerk, 2026).
Conclusion
North Southampton is not worth more than south Southampton on the documented evidence. The tendency runs toward the ocean side and the village, the south-of-the-highway ground, but it is a tendency produced by proximity and lot size, and individual northern lots can and do break it.
Because no percentage split is published, the only defensible answer for a specific home is the method: lot facts, closed deeds, and the new build prices its street supports. To run that method on a particular property, call 401-219-4207 or email [email protected]. If the compass stopped mattering once the lot was measured, what should you have been measuring all along?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a published percentage for the south premium in Southampton?
No. The research documents the south-of-the-highway premium qualitatively, through new build prices that vary by location, ocean proximity, and lot size, and it publishes no percentage split (Redfin, 2026; Frontier Capitals, 2026).
What actually makes southern locations tend to be worth more?
Ocean and village proximity, ranked first among the drivers of residual land value in the sample analysis, ahead of lot size and the Manhattan second home bid (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Can a home in north Southampton outprice one in the south?
Yes. A much larger northern lot, especially one with subdivision potential in its zoning record, can support a higher residual land value than a small southern lot (Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026; Frontier Capitals, 2026).
How should I compare two specific homes in different parts of 11968?
Use assessor lot facts, county assessment records, and recorded deeds for closed sales on comparable streets, then test each lot against the new build prices its location supports (Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026; Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, 2026; Suffolk County Clerk, 2026).
Did the sample study north and south separately?
No. The sample treated 11968 as one market of 16 older homes, 13 acquired by builders, and published a single average of 23.3 percent of new build price (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 16 homes sampled in 11968, 13 acquired by builders, average older home price 23.3 percent of new build. Market data.
- Redfin, 2026. Recently sold homes and new construction, ZIP code 11968, Southampton NY. Market data.
- Zillow, 2026. Home values and recently sold, 11968. Market data.
- Town of Southampton Assessor, 2026. Parcel dimensions, zoning, and assessed land value records. Official record.
- Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, 2026. Parcel and assessment records, Southampton NY. Official record.
- Suffolk County Clerk, 2026. Recorded deeds and parcel records, Southampton NY. Official record.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025. QuickFacts: Southampton town, New York. Government data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Typical seller commission structures, Hamptons market. Industry report.
- James Lane Post, 2026. Q1 market report: Hamptons home sales decline but rising prices signal a reshaped market. Press.
- Wall Street Journal, 2026. Southampton luxury coverage, quoting Sotheby's International Realty's Michaela Keszler. Press.