First-time homeowners taking advantage of low mortgage rates and real estate investors searching for yield have created a surge in the number of sales for properties under $1 million, practically depleting available inventory in this price point. Sub-$1million property sales represent nearly 74% of all transactions but account for only 25% of available listings. Even more surprising is the fact that of the 115 available listings with current asking prices under $1 million, only 38 are single-family homes, with land (44), commercial (12) and condo/co-op/multi-family properties (21) representing the difference.
In contrast to the activity in the low-end, high-end inventory continues to increase as favorable market conditions have lured high-end property owners to market. Since April 1st, 15 properties with current asking prices over $5 million totaling $152.15 million have come to market. As the market hasn’t yet seen strong sales activity in this price segment, listings that carry an asking price of over $5 million currently total 45 properties (40 of these listings are single-family homes). This means that inventory for single-family homes under $1 million is less than inventory for single-family homes over $5 million.
What does this mean? Conditions look good for low-end home owners looking to list in a low inventory environment, and high-end home buys looking for leverage in an over-supplied segment of the market.
The following is the Nantucket Real Estate Week in Review for the week ending May 17th, 2013
4 Nantucket Property Transactions Closed:
- Sales Totaled $4,505,650
- Average Sale Price: $1,126,413
- Highest: 7 South Valley Road for $1,550,000
- Lowest: 29 Friendship Lane (Multi-Family) for $647,000

7 South Valley Road (Killen Real Estate) – Shimmo, Nantucket, MA
5 Offers Were Accepted:
- Highest: 20 York Street most recently listed for $1,325,000
- Lowest: 41 Macy’s Lane most recently listed for $559,000

20 York Street (Windwalker Real Estate) – Town, Nantucket, MA
8 Purchase & Sale Agreements Were Executed:
- Highest: 4 Capaum Road most recently listed for $3,250,000
- Lowest: 10 Backus Lane (Lot 4, Land) most recently listed for $175,000

4 Capaum Road (Windwalker Real Estate) – Cliff, Nantucket, MA

68 Pocomo Road (Windwalker Real Estate) – Pocomo, Nantucket, MA
5 Price Changes Occurred This Week:
- Largest Price Reduction: 38 Fair Street, reduced 11.09% to $1,685,000 from original list price of $1,895,000

38 Fair Street (Windwalker Real Estate) – Town, Nantucket, MA
~ Report by Windwalker Real Estate Research Department, Pete Kaizer & Jennifer Shalley
* All content provided herein reflects all information available on LINK, Nantucket Listing Service, as of the time this article was posted.