Posted by Brian Sullivan on Thu, May 20, 2010
Today is the beginning of the
Nantucket Wine festival. I thought it to be a good time to update you on my
perspective of the Nantucket Real estate market and what has happened this winter and forecast this summer real estate selling season on Nantucket.
To date for 2010 there have been 99 properties that have sold on Nantucket, with an average price of $1,684,950. In the same time period of last year there were only half as many sales 55, with an average sale price of $1,890,000. This represents a strong comeback in the Nantucket real estate market a place that historically comes back before the overall economy. Currently there are 584 properties listed for sale on Nantucket and they break down as follows:
63 Properties on islalnd priced $0 - $500,000
157 listings between $500,000 to $1,000,000
121 homes, lots, condos etc $1,000,000 to $1,500,000
68 current listings on nantucket $1,500,000 to $2,000,000
89 homes on market from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000
73 between $3,000,000 to $5,000,000
18 properties $5,000,000 to $8,000,000
and 22 listings over $8,000,000
I have been working in the real estate business on Nantucket since 1996 and the numbers mean a lot, but experience and feeling the momentum of the market place means more.
This Spring we have seen the largest volume of sales in lower priced properties, many selling to the year round community, with prices falling (and I expect in the sub $1 Million market they will continue to). We have seen many deals come together that represent strong value in comparison to recent markets of the last 5 years.
The market on Nantucket from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 seems to have struggled a little bit this past winter but appears it may pick up momentum in the summer selling season. Traditionally properties in this price point are 1st time vacation home buyers who are interested in carrying some of the cost of a home with rental income. Well priced properties in this price point are getting a lot of activity, it is just a matter of finding a reasonable seller and a situation that the rental revenue can assist a buyer in meeting the cost of homeownership. Back in 2001 was the end of positive cash flow on a rental property on Nantucket, but it seems like now its getting close to a 75% or greater carry situation. When you consider a carry like that and purchasing near the bottom of a market appreciation over a long term investment will pay off.
In the $2 Million to $4 Million market I am seeing a lot of demand right now for quality finished product, the kind of property that is well located, well priced and offers little improvement effort for a buyer - "turn key" situations. Many buyers in this price point use their homes exclusively and choose not to rent, however rental income in this price point can range from $7500/week to $15K depending on amenity the traditional rental season on Nantucket is 8 to 10 weeks long. An indicator to me that this price point has bottomed is the lack of quality inventory, historically we saw speculators producing homes in the segment of the market, however with the downturn in the overall economy speculators have not been working in the Nantucket market for some time. There were more then a handful of properties sold this past winter to speculators who now see value and I expect to see that inventory come to market next spring once they have had the time to make quality improvements.
Here are some of my favorite Nantucket properties for sale right now in the $2 Million to $4 Million price point.
Liberty Street
Madaket Road
Rainbows End
The high end market on Nantucket is still strong, last fall and throughout the winter we saw a number of sales from $5 million up to $19.2 million. The finial sales figures on these homes were discounted from the height of the market in 2005 and offered to value for these buyers in beautiful homes, strong location and a quality of life only found on Nantucket. Here are some of the properties that sold this winter.
6 Hinckley Lane SOLD $5,750,000
7 Acadamy Lane SOLD $5,100,00
10 South Valley SOLD $5,410,000
57 Eel Point Road SOLD $9,500,000
For more information on any segment of the Nantucket real estate market please feel free to contact me via a form below or by calling my cell 508 414 1878. I will look forward to working with you on obtaining the quality of life you deserve on Nantucket!
Brian Sullivan
Posted by Brian Sullivan on Fri, Mar 19, 2010
Spring seems to have arrived on Nantucket, I just returned from my winter vacation in Aspen Colorado where the snow was plentiful and the days were beautiful and warm, perfect Spring skiing.
The weather on Nantucket right now is beautiful, clear blue sky's and temps in the 60's
. There is a lot of activity around Nantucket island at the moment, landscapers are out doing Spring cleanups, the DPW will be sweeping streets in upcoming weeks and restaurants and retail on Main Street are 
preparing to reopen. There are even daffodils starting to sprout in preparation of the Nantucket Daffodil festival, for more information on the Daffodil festival and the Nantucket antique car parade click here.
The real estate market on Nantucket is also picking up for Spring, homeowners are preparing their properties for spring showings and new listings are coming to the market every day. In the last 7 Days there have been 16 new listings added to the market, many in the $2 million price point, a portion of the market that has been lacking quality inventory. There are 10 properties that have had price adjustments recently in effort to see offers in the spring market. In yesterdays Inquire and Mirror, Nantucket's local newspaper there were 12 Foreclosure notices for homes on Nantucket and 10 listed with Soldiers and Sailors notices, often the precursor to a foreclosure. 
The most notable closing this past week was at 9 Morey Lane which was designed by internationally renowned architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen, this property closed at $3,200,000
I have seen more than a handful of offers written recently from my perspective at Maury People Nantucket's largest and highest grossing real estate office.
Winter Storms have been unforgiving to Nantucket's coast line this
past winter, erosion has been worst on Baxter Road and in areas of Madaket, both of Nantucket's local papers have recently reported on the severity of issue to read more on these click here, INKY or Independent.
Town meeting and local elections are rapidly approaching it seems there is a lot of energy and excitement about this years election and meeting, there are lots of budget issues to be discussed, many people running for elected positions as well. Just as the national political landscape is ever changing it seems Nantucket is as well. For a copy of the Nantucket Town Meeting 2010 Warrant click here.
A number of years ago I represented a seller who sold their property to the Nantucket Land Bank, the property is known as Consue Springs, the address is on Union Street near the corner of Union and Orange. At the time of the sale the Land Bank intended on working with the Conservation Foundation to remove an invasive plant species from the marsh area and open up views to the harbor from this location. In this past weeks newspaper there was a public notice for a hearing on this project, personally I am very excited to see this done, hopefully soon we will see a new Nantucket harbor view open up from this busy location.
Lastly the bookings for Nantucket vacation homes for Summer 2010 have really heated up. Leases are being written every day, the best inventory is booking up rapidly, some properties are nego. price while others are not. Its time to search inventory and get something booked ASAP if you are interested vacation rentals on Nantucket Island for summer 2010 now is time to get your plans settled.