NANTUCKET REAL ESTATE
MARKET REPORTS
Heads or Tails?
The Nantucket Real Estate Market offers no clear signs of slowing to a pace typical of the national real estate market. Markets in areas like South Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona experienced stratospheric rates of appreciation which contradicted what appeared to be an endless supply chain. While the Nantucket housing market did enjoy a peak in 2005 of a 29% increase in the average house sale it seemed anemic compared to the widely covered stories of real estate get rich investments that novice investors experienced in other areas.
Today, Nantucket is still enjoying average sale prices of $2,215,000 and median home prices of $1,600,000. Though the island’s average price has slipped seven percent in 2007 it is still a $51,000 premium from our 2005 growth peaks. Our weakness, which is hopeful news for buyers, is in the area of available inventory and number of sales. The available number of homes and land is over six hundred properties which are probably an all time high and the number of sales transactions has dipped to post 9/11 figures. Considering our average sales figures remain stubbornly high, it indicates that the Nantucket seller is more likely to wait for their asking price even though the inventory and number of transactions suggest that the line is long. The alternative is sellers take their homes off the market….and wait for the tide to change…given the comforting notion that Nantucket is a coveted destination thirty miles out to sea with an aggressive conservation program and ever constricting development regulations
While the market is not a traditional buyer’s market both, buyers and sellers should take comfort in the stability of their island investment. To date, 2007 has experienced no foreclosure auctions and “short sales”, the result of “upside down” mortgages are infrequent. And as we close out 2007 with a look and feel of 2006 we are asking what 2008 will bring.
With a national real estate hang-over we can be quite certain that the Nantucket real estate market will not be breaking the 2005 records and the self fulfilling media coverage will remain negative as long as sub-prime default rates remain high. What we will see on Nantucket is new highs for the prized real estate (as we experienced in 2007) and a continued tug-of-war between buyers and sellers with each other acquiescing intermittently along with some very good deals trading on occasion for those buyers blessed with good timing.
