For the first time this year, monthly dollar and transaction volume trailed prior year figures. That’s not all that surprising considering August 2020 set an all-time August record and that 2021 inventory remains incredibly lean. August 2021 activity included 40 transactions totaling $143 million, a respective decline of 23 percent and 18 percent from one year ago but higher than the five-year average for both datapoints. This brought year-to-date sales through August 31, 2021, to 432 transactions totaling $1.18 billion. These cumulative figures are nearly double what was posted one year ago and far greater than any year-to-date period the island market has ever seen. The question is whether this trajectory can continue for the remaining four months of the year. Single-family home sales were notably lower than last month as available inventory hampered sales volume. Nonetheless, we continue to see more and more private sales occurring so it’s possible the music won’t stop just yet.

Despite the uncertainty with which 2020 started, the Nantucket real estate market saw a significant increase in buyer demand in early June and momentum never ceased from there.  Full-year results tallied approximately $1.85B in sales, a 50 percent increase from 2019 and $670 million higher than the best market on record in 2005.  Nantucket real estate transactions in 2020 represented the highest number of homes sales ever recorded, the highest number of high-end sales ($5M+) in a one-year period and several new trends, including a record number of pre-construction sales. Here is Fisher’s Annual Market Report…