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A U T U M N We love autumn on Nantucket. Everything is still open and the pace becomes more leisurely. Of course, the weather is unpredictable as evidenced by the 4 days with no boats or planes last week, but it reminds us that we live at sea and that we are really not in charge! Fall on Nantucket is special: scallops, cranberries, cozy fires, the moors changing colors and, of course, Whaler’s football! It is a time to get caught up with other islanders after the fast pace of summer. The real estate market on Nantucket was unpredictable for most of 2019 with some significant drops in both the number and dollar volume of sales for the first half of the year. The good news is that the market seems to have stabilized a bit with the third quarter. There have been 317 sales (-14%) for $662 million (-11%) as of September 30th. The average sale is now $2,090,000, compared to $2,214,000 at the end of 2018, a decrease of 6%. Properties are currently selling, on average, for 89% of the list price at the time of sale and for 120% of the assessed value. The price of an average home on Nantucket is now $2,422,000, down 7% from $2,615,000 in 2018. The median price of a home is now $1,624,000, compared to $1,750,000 last year. The average vacant lot on Nantucket is selling for $1,113,000, down 37% from 2018, and the median lot is $863,000, down 6%. One of the most significant changes is the length of time it takes to sell a listing in the current market. As of Q3, the average time on market is up to 11 months, a significant increase over 2018 when it was 9 months. As always, there are a number of factors involved including overpricing by many sellers, high amount of inventory, lack of urgency on the part of buyers and a generally unsettled feeling about the economy. Continued on Page 2...