Over the past decade, the Nantucket single-family home market has experienced remarkable growth, surpassing $10 billion in sales volume.
The peak years on Nantucket, both in number of transactions and overall sales volume, were 2020 and 2021. In 2020, we saw 480 transactions and over $1.6 billion in sales, followed by a record-breaking 498 transactions and $1.8 billion in 2021. We witnessed a decrease in the number of transactions, and lower sales volume in the years of 2022 and 2023.
That said, sales in the “ultra luxury” end of the market (defined as $10,000,000+) saw substantial growth, while transactions in the lower end of the market (under $2,000,000) virtually disappeared. As an example, in 2021 we saw 163 transactions under 2M, and in 2024 that number dwarfed to 34… This juxtaposition paints the picture of lower inventory and creating an overall price shift higher.
Breaking down 2024 month by month, the sales volume has been impressive. The fall really took off, with significant transaction counts and rising property values contributing to a renewed market surge that we expect to continue into 2025 after the usual winter dip.
Nantucket’s luxury market continues to balance limited inventory with high demand. The appetite for the beautiful finished product in the “A” location on Nantucket remains high. Due to the amount of cash currently available to buyers, pricing continues to shift higher. This has negatively affected the mid-range of the market, which are slightly more price sensitive and more deeply feel the effect of increasing mortgage rates. Personally working with buyers in the market, it’s easy to feel these trends first hand. Buyers seem to be less enthused about the inventory available to them than in years past, which has overtime led to a somewhat moving price target in the 4-8M range.
In conclusion, the Nantucket ultra luxury market continues to expand and grow, influencing the pricing across the middle and lower end of the market. With inventory remaining low, increases across all price points will continue, and a slow down does not appear to be coming soon…
Saying that, the real question is: what will the next 10 years bring to the Nantucket market?