Summer on Nantucket started with a bang and shows no sign of slowing down as we head into the thick of it. The weather has been beautiful and all of the snow from last winter is, thankfully, a distant memory. There have been some big changes around the island. As promised, the larger new Stop & Shop store opened up on time next to the former store on Pleasant Street. The Nantucket Boys & Girls Club renovation is finished and the club is twice the size of the old one. There are four major construction projects underway in close proximity in the heart of Town: Bookworks is building a new bookstore on Broad Street, the Mooney Building (corner of Federal and Broad) is being transformed into, among other things, a culinary arts center, and there is a large inn under construction where Dexter Collins used to sell seashells across from the Town Building. Lastly, a new theater will be built on North Water Street. Many people returning to the island have commented on all of the changes this year which do seem more visible and numerous than in past years. This activity is yet another sign that the economy is improving and folks are willing to take risks on commercial projects.
The last week of June saw a huge number of very optimistically priced listings come onto the market. The climate is reminiscent of 2004 and 2005 when many sellers thought that the sky was the limit. We know this is not the case with the number of sales for the first half of the year at 182, compared to 224 last year. The dollars to date in 2015 are at just over $312 million, compared to $380 million last year at this time. The lower numbers are attributable to a number of factors. The number of properties on the market is 30%+ lower than it was at the height of the recession, giving buyers fewer choices. Buyers are willing to wait to get the property that they want and, in many cases, are buying land and building a home, a process that can take nearly two years with the permitting and construction requirements on Nantucket. Many buyers who were on the sidelines through the recession have now purchased. Read on for full report…