Country Village Rentals and Real Estate Weblog

While it is temporarily off the market, 4 Magnolia Avenue in Sconset is still available for $2,495,000

1. 29 Baxter Road: A 6 bedroom, 5 bath home on 1.01 acres; Louis Ritchie Beale, William Ludlow Ritchie, Jr. and C. Jackson Ritchie, Jr., Executors uner the will of Eleanor Preston Ritchie to Insight Baxter, LLC; $4,950,000

2. 29 Bosworth Road; A 4 bedroom, 4 bath home on .11 of an acre; Warren Adleson and Jan P. Adleson to 29 Bosworth Road Realty Trust; $3,825,000

3. 20 Cliff Road: A 5 bedroom, 4 bath home on .15 of an acre; Norman V. Lewis to Twenty Cliff Nantucket, LLC; $3,175,000

4. 16 Vestal Street: A 2 bedroom, 2 bath home on .12 of an acre; Michael F. and Joanne D. Angelastro to Michael and Dabney N. Bowen; $1,445,000

5. 15 Evelyn Street:  A garage on .12 of an acre; Estate of Marion S. Magid, Allen E. Ottoson to John A. Hilton, Jr. and Julia H. Hilton; $1,375,000

6. 10 Lincoln Street: A 5 bedroom, 6 bath home on .20 of an acre; Charles A. Field, Trustee of the Field Family Trust to Alison Sweet Zieff, Trustee of Ten Lincoln Street Nominee Trust; $1,000,000

7. 17 West Chester Street: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on .13 of an acre; Homefront Renovations, LLC to 17 West Chester Street, LLC; $900,000

8. 11 Appleton Road: A 2 bedroom, 2 bath home on .23 of an acre; Christopher Michael Rowell and Shelly Jo Talvacchia to Grover Hull and Joan Hull; $715,000

1. 22 North Pasture Lane: A home on .95 of an acre; Taget Development,LLC to James and Susan Doughan, Trustees of Susan M. Doughan Living Trust; $4,600,0002. 9 Vesper Lane: A vacant lot on 2.1 acres; Nancy Sevfrens to Nantucket Islands Land Bank; $2,500,000

3. Old Westmoor Farm, Lot 29: A vacant lot on .66 of an acre; $2,200,000

4. 85 North Liberty Street: A 1 bedroom, 1 bath home on .10 of an acre; Kelly M. Williams and Andrew J. Forsyth to James G. Ross and Janet W. Ross; $1,377,700

5. 35 Chuck Hollow Road: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on 1.5 acres; $1,250,000

6. 10 Still Dock: A 1 bedroom, 1 bath home on .04 of an acre; George W. Penny to Richard A. and Kim D. Franco; $1,222,500

7. 28 Chuck Hollow Road: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on 1.2 acres; Carol Yankowski and Patricia Petraglia to Alan F. and Susan E. Richardson; $1,200,000

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

Perhaps prompted by the warmer weather, the buyers have stepped up and started acquiring Nantucket real estate again. Following the typical seasonal pattern, the late spring/early summer is showing that buyers are stepping back into the market, even though it is not at the same pace as the past two or three years.

According to the “Real Estate Report” (Nantucket Indpendent, 7/11/2007), there have been 193 total transactions worth about $331 million, while the same period in 2006 saw a total of 249 total transactions worth about $484 million.

Other notes from the report:

• - for the first time in five years, the average and median home sale prices and the average and median land sale prices has fallen from 2006
• - in the first half of 2007, 71% of sales occurred over $1 million; 53% of sales occurred over $2 million; 6% of sales occurred under $1 million
• - prices range from a $225,000 mid-island condo to a $21.5 million oceanfront estate in Squam

A note of good news is that properties at all price tiers are selling: houses under $1 million (which will always continue to sell well, as this is the entry level of the market), but also properties at the $2, $4, $6, and even $9 million tier are moving, which is good in that there does not appear to be any specific tier that is not moving. A few years ago there was as an abundance of properties between $2 and $3 million that just sat and sat on the market for many months until they either were taken off the market or eventually sold.

What I am gathering from all of this data is that we are finally returning to a more stable market but I would not go as far as calling this a ‘buyer’s’ market. It may be more adventageous for buyers right now because of the large number of properties on the market, allowing them to pick and choose and compare homes, but most properties are still being purchased close to their asking prices, so prices are not falling precipitiously like in several other areas of the country. Also, it is important to remember that markets are cyclical and do not always go up…ANY market be it the stock market or the real estate market. The Nantucket market may be slighly insulated from the mainland in terms of price buoyancy, but it is not impenetrable as we now see.

At this stage, I’m advising my seller clients who are considering listing their properties and adding to the very high inventory level, to work with me to set accurate and realistic asking prices. Fortunately for the majority of Nantucket property owners, they do not NEED to sell so they are not adding more inventory to the market. My buyer clients, on the other hand, are enjoying taking their time browsing lots of properties and have no qualms about submitting ‘low-ball’ offers, even when they are outright rejected - this is what you can do when the market leans in the buyers direction.

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or if you are interested in acquiring a property!

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

An interesting thing happened over the last several days…several people, including myself, have noticed that the infamous “August people”* may have come early.  While the fourth of July always tends to bring in the well-heeled, it looks like they are here a bit earlier than last year.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many Range Rovers in my time on Nantucket! 

Herb Gallen’s (of Ellen Tracy fame) large (164′) and incredibly beautiful Mystique yacht was docked in prestigious Nantucket harbor over the last week, pretty much by herself, but that is soon to change as the jet set start pulling in their super yachts in the next few weeks…

I look forward to it!

 * “August people” generally consist of the wealthiest residents and vacationers that frequent Nantucket.  They own the largest houses, the newest vehicles, the largest yachts and if they don’t come in by private boat, they have either the largest or fastest yets (either privately owned, or chartered).  This is a broad generalization, but sometimes it’s fun to make general observations!

1. Tuckernuck Island: A house on 17.5 acres; Heath Family, LLC to Ernest C. Parizeau, Trustee of Coffin Collins Parizeau Truckernuck Nominee Trust; $2,500,000

2. 25 Orange Street: A 5 bedroom, 5 bath home on .10 of an acre; A. Peter Guarino and Paul E. Willer to Thomas B. Lewis, Jr.; $2,075,000

3. 1 Wood Hollow Road: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on 1.5 acres; Scott and Cary Atkins to Stephen Jaeger, Trustee of Wood Hollow Nominee Trust; $1,800,000

4. 2 New Dollar Lane: A 3 bedroom, 1 bath home on .12 of an acre; Arthur and Martha Butler to Arthur Reade, Jr., Trustee of Two New Dollar Lane Nominee Trust; $1,650,000

5. 137 Hummock Pond Road: A vacant lot on 1.8 acres; Robert McGrady to Jason and Natasha Harman; $1,320,000

6. 8 Westerwyck Way: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on .71 of an acre; Elizabeth Coletti to Stephen G. Maloney; $680,000

7. 2 Thurston’s Way, Unit B: A condominium; DJK Management, LLC to Paula McQuaid; $585,000

8. 25D Daffodil Lane: A cooperative; 25 Daffodil Lane Cooperative to Matthew Stein; $532,000

9. 29 South Cambridge Street: A 3 bedroom, 2 bath town house on .16 of an acre; Douglas and Patricia Heller to Seth Collette; $468,500

10. 30 Centre Street, Unit B: A timeshare period, Interval 5; Resort Realty Group Limited to James R. Tallman and Carl D. Eisenmann, Trustees of Mariner House Condominium Association Realty Trust; $4,610,62

The Nantucket Islands Land Bank brought in $224,432.21 for the week. Year to date, the Land Bank has gained $6,729,931.91

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

Well summer is officially here and the market appears to be picking up a bit along with the glorious weather! While the inventory continues to grow, there still are properties being acquired at all price points, which is a good sign. But with the growing number of properties on the market, I do expect some softening of prices particularly at the price point of $2mm and under (where the bulk of the inventory lies). It still remains the case that properly priced properties are still being gobbled up rather quickly (typically in less than 2-3 weeks).

These factors, though, bode extremely well for buyers who can still obtain historically low interest rates and who have many properties to choose from.

Below are some notes about the current inventory:

• The least least expensive property on the market is 133B Old South Road, a studio condo with one bathroom, listed for $225,000
• The most expensive property on the market is 37 Squam Road, a 7 bedroom, 8 bathroom oceanfront house on for $19,995,000. Interesting note: this is the house of Dennis Kozlowski (former Tyco CEO, now in jail), and it was REDUCED from $23.5mm…still way off IMO
• Unofficially, the most expensive house that is for sale (but is NOT in our MLS system), is 7-11 Squam Road, the home purchased by Body By Jake owner Jake Steinfeld in 2005 for $10mm, which is for sale for $21,500,000…hmm…

As always, please contact me with any questions about the market or if you or someone you know is interested in acquiring a property or securing a rental!

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

So one of today’s open houses was at 30R Quidnet Road.  In a previous post, I mentioned how this property is on the market for $19,500,000 and it’s not even on the water.  As we were pulling up to the property, my colleague and I were contemplating how in the world a property on Nantucket could be listed so high and not even have water views.

Well, all I can say is that the craftsmanship in this 8 bedroom, 8+ bathroom Main house was utterly AMAZING!  Besides being absolutely HUGE, the details and finish work is impeccable.  There was a wing of the house that was comprised of three bedrooms in a semi-circle…as a result, the bedroom doors were CURVED!!  Now I do not know too much about carpentry, but I know that anything that is curved is something special.

Add the pool, pool house, tennis court, garages…oh and the 14 acres…and I can now see the justification of the high list price.

We’ll see what happens!

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

I just got back from an proper bankruptcy auction at 209 Polpis Road.  This 5,784 SF, 5 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom oceanview estate is situated on 4.1 acres in Polpis with first and second floor views of Polpis Harbor.  Included in the estate are Guest Quarters, a pool and tennis court.

Although not as exciting as I think I was expecting, the bidding started at $3.7mm, and through about 6 or 7 bids, got up to $4.1mm.  Then, just before saying “SOLD” the auctioneer called for a recess, contacted the owner and returned to reveal that the price was acceptable to the owner and that if no other bids were placed, then the high bidder - at $4.1mm - would win the auction.  No one else stepped up, and one lucky fellow walked away with a great deal.

The property was listed with an agent last year for $6.5mm and it (obviously) did not sell.  The property assesses for about $5mm, so it appears that the new owner has at LEAST a million dollars of cushion to play with.  Will he flip it for a cool million or more?  Will he keep it and enjoy it with his family?  We’ll find out!

To see and read more about the property, check out this link…