Though Nantucket real estate activity began a dramatic turnaround in June, May sales data continued to show the impact the pandemic had on spring transaction activity. For the period ending May 31, 2020, there were 18 property transfers totaling $55.5 million, a respective decline of 50 percent and 31 percent from May 2019.  Dollar volume figures were buoyed by an ultra-high-end sale, the second so far this year, which accounted for nearly half of total monthly dollar volume. As a result, year-to-date figures were off twenty percent on a transaction basis but just seven percent on a dollar volume basis as compared to the same period one year ago. Based on current contract activity at the time of this report, we can see that transaction volume will pick up dramatically in months to come, yet this report will not yet reflect this activity.

While Fisher Real Estate’s figures put the 2019 Nantucket real estate market at just under the $1 billion mark with a total of 423 transactions, excluding foreclosures and non-market rate transactions, it was nonetheless an impressive year. This is particularly true if you consider that the first quarter of 2019 trailed the first quarter of 2018 by a respective 39 percent and 47 percent on a transaction and dollar volume basis