Real Estate Market Update – June 2012 by Dan Dunlap , July 8, 2012
While the National Association of Realtors reported pending homes sales (the number of contracts signed) increased 5.9% to 101.1 from 95.5 in April and the Commerce Department reported that Construction Spending rose 0.9% in May (the biggest gain since December 2011), the best news for home buyers has been that mortgage rates have continued to hold at historic lows.
During the first 5 months of the year real estate activity on Nantucket was mostly higher when compared to 2010 and 2011, but not so in June. June 2012 finished behind June 2011 and 2010 in sales volume (28.4% lower than in 2011 and 22.57% lower than in 2010) and the number of properties sold (2.86% lower than 2011) but higher than in 2010 (9.68%).
Also worth noting; the volume and number of properties sold in June fell dramatically short of May’s 49 transactions totaling almost $85 million ($16 million of which was the land transaction between Nantucket Land Bank, Sconset Trust and Coffin etal).
Single-‐family home sales made up 83.56% of the sales volume in June and made up 75% of the transactions. Single-‐family dwellings under $750,000 made up 33% of June’s home sale transaction and accounted for 8.89% of June’s total sales volume on Nantucket. There were 10 sales between $1.05 million and $2.5 million. Unfortunately, we continue to see higher than average foreclosure activity (for Nantucket), so this year’s results are somewhat misleading because of properties being placed in REO portfolios versus going to end-‐users. While 18.46% of this year’s property transactions involved foreclosure actions (11.76% in June), they accounted for approximately 6.67% of the total sales volume (4.46% in June). YTD Activity: • During the first six months of 2012, 195 real estate transactions were completed compared to 157 for
the same time-‐period last year. Of these transactions, 144 were single-‐family homes (including foreclosures), compared to 121 single-‐family homes sold during the same time-‐period in 2011. • The total number of properties sold during this time-‐period was 24.2% higher and the dollar
volume 27% higher than during the same time period in 2011. .
• Single-‐family home prices have averaged $1.570 million year-‐to-‐date, up 9.87% from 2011 levels
while the median price increased 2.68% to $1.033 million.
• This year, single-‐family home sales have averaged:
• 86.64% of their final asking price • 83.29% of their original asking price • 98% of their current assessed valuation (for the 139 properties showing an assessed valuation) • Average time on-‐market was 308 days
• There have been 16 land sales this year with an average sale price of $1.556 million. These 16 parcels sold for an average of: • 95.6% of their final asking price • 89.4% of their original asking price • 91% of their current assessed valuation (for the 12 parcels showing an assessed valuation and
excluding the Coffin property) • Average parcel size was 31,651 sq. ft. (excluding the 119+ acres involved in the Land
Bank/Sconset Trust transaction). • Of the 16 land transactions, 7 involved parcels less than 1/4 acre.
• Average time on-‐market was 238 days Availability: On June 30th, there were 526 properties listed for sale on Nantucket, 388 of which were single-‐family dwellings, compared to 539 properties listed for sale (373 of which were single-‐family dwellings) this time last year. At the end of 2011 there were 483 properties listed for sale compared to 432 at the end of 2010, 488 at the end of 2009 and 497 at the end of 2008. Quite simply, Nantucket continues to have a high level of inventory for sale. Bottom-line: There continues to be a wide variety of properties available, at more attractive pricing, than two or three years ago and sales are up because people are beginning to again see “value” in Nantucket real estate. Combined with attractive interest rates, an abundance of quality inventory and more realistic pricing, this is the time to start seriously looking…