A player in the Hamptons trophy market has unlocked another achievement.
Matthew Karch, co-founder of video game developer Saber Interactive, paid $31.5 million for a 1970s-era oceanfront estate in East Hampton Village, according to the Wall Street Journal. The home lines up with Zillow images and past reports as 33 Lily Pond Lane.
The sale breaks down to $4,500 per square foot.
The roughly two-acre spread sits directly on the beach with a 7,000-square-foot main house, a guesthouse, tennis court and pool.
Karch said the location sold him — “the house literally sits on top of the ocean” — and he plans to replace the existing five-bedroom residence with a build he’ll use as a second home.
The sellers, Norman and Helene Stark, owned the property since 1994, when they bought it for $4.7 million. They first floated it for $75 million in 2017, pulling it on and off the market over the years before cutting the ask to $39 million.
Karch, who is based in Florida, isn’t new to the Hamptons. He owns two homes in Sag Harbor and told the outlet he may sell one now that he’s secured his East Hampton oceanfront perch. In 2020, he paid $10 million for a condominium unit at Auberge Beach Residences & Spa in Fort Lauderdale.
Founded in 2001, Saber Interactive counts more than 1,300 employees among its ranks. Notable games developed by the company include Will Rock, TimeShift and NBA Playgrounds.
The East Hampton deal underscores how quickly the East End’s ultra-luxury market has bounced back from a recent lull. Pandemic-driven demand drove prices to records, but sales slowed sharply in early 2023 as inventory thinned and mortgage rates spiked, according to a Douglas Elliman report from Jonathan Miller.
Momentum turned late in 2023 when closings were up annually in the fourth quarter for the first time in 10 quarters. By this summer, brokers say, the market was moving at its fastest clip since the pandemic boom.
That’s borne out in the numbers: in the second quarter, there were 26 trades at $10 million or higher, up from 22 a year earlier and just six in 2023, according to appraiser Jonathan Miller’s Douglas Elliman report.
— Holden Walter-Warner
Read more
Residential
South Florida
Video game CEO spends $10M on Fort Lauderdale condo
Harry Macklowe asks for mercy from East Hampton authorities
East Hampton estate hits market for $42M
