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The light on Nantucket is exceptional in the fall. It is very intense and makes everything, especially anything with white trim, look almost saturated. Artists often remark upon the unique quality of the light here. We were able to enjoy the super red moon and lunar eclipse recently in a night sky that was crystal clear. This is the time of the year that we catch our breath after a very busy summer. The weather was beautiful all summer long with one long string of perfect beach days. The Steamship Authority reports that traffic was up and restaurants and retail businesses had a great season as well. People seemed happy to be here and, beyond the usual complaining about traffic and bad driving manners, it seemed like it was a very good summer for the island. The real estate market was very strong coming into summer and then, sometime in late July, we hit some slight doldrums. The number of sales for the month of August was down by 15% and sales dollars down by 4% compared to last August. As is often the case, conditions were caused by a confluence of factors, among them the shaky Chinese economy, followed by financial market volatility at home with a dash of sellers aggressively overpricing their Nantucket properties at the beginning of the summer. Many buyers took stock and resisted, as no one has to buy a property on Nantucket, primarily a discretionary market. What was lacking this summer was any kind of urgency on the part of buyers. Add to this the uncertainty about the coming election year and the Federal Reserve Board deciding, late in the summer, to leave the benchmark interest rate as is, even with strong fundamental indicators that the recession is over, and it was a somewhat unpredictable season. In spite of this turmoil, the average price of a property on Nantucket continues to climb. The average price of a home on island is now $2,190,000, an increase of 4% since last December. At the end of 2014 it was $2,124,000 and at the end of 2013 it was $1,726,000. There were very fast gains in 2014 that were unsustainable. The median price of a residential property on Nantucket is now $1,458,000, up 5% from $1,400,000 at the end of 2014. The lowest the median price of a house on Nantucket in has been in the past 15 years was $970,000 in 2009. And the highest was $1,550,000 in 2006, just prior to the recession. It is important to note that prices are not yet as high as they were at the previous height of the market (2006). Continued on Page 2...