Excerpted from Barron’s:
The fog is lifting over the luxury real estate market on Nantucket just as the high season begins. Island insiders say that one beach-front property went to contract last week for about $28 million, a Nantucket record.
The market has “gone bonkers” says Brian Sullivan of Maury People Sotheby’s, especially in the $15 million-plus category. In fact, Nantucket’s first half sales volume more than doubled from a year earlier, to $246 million.
It’s a welcome change for this storied haven off the coast of Massachusetts. America’s housing crash hit Nantucket hard, and prices are still off 25% fromtheir peak, says David Callahan, president of the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors. Nantucket has seen some 20 foreclosure sales just this year.
Last week’s mega sale illustrates both the progress and the problems. The seller, former Goldman Sachs honcho Jon Winkelreid, listed the 5.75 acre spread two years ago for $55 million. But the deal price was far above the $7 million he paid 11 years ago, and close to his latest asking price.
Bargain hunters are clearly coming out of the woodwork. Jacquie and Bill Colgan of Summit, NJ, picked up a 10,000 square foot house near the center of town in a foreclosure sale for $1.17 million – a steal.
Attention buyers: Get out your harpoons.
-Nancy Miller, Nancy Miller’s blog, the New Wall Street, appears at trueslant.com/nancymiller