One of my colleagues and I made a friendly wager at the beginning of 2012 as to what the final sales number would be for real estate on Nantucket this year. He was feeling more bullish than I was in January and estimated $875,000,000. I thought the total would be around $720,000. Keep in mind that Nantucket has only had two years, ever, over 1 billion dollars: 2004 and 2005, just prior to the recession. I am happy to report that my colleague’s number will be closer to the final tally than mine. As of December 1, 2012 – the total value of all real estate sold on Nantucket was $700,419,000. In the past two weeks there have been an additional $24,000,000 in sales bringing the total over $724,000,000. There are 60 pending sales and, if they all close in 2012 (which they might – everyone is rushing to sell before the capital gains rate goes up) it will add another $80,000,000 for a total of $804,000,000. I expect that I will be buying my friend lunch. And I will be happy to do so.
-Penny