Market News

Market Update is a service offererd by Tea Lane Associates. We update Martha's Vineyard real estate sales transactions on a weekly basis and post quarterly reports and charts for your review. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like more detailed analysis for properties in a specific town or price range. We have much more information on the Real Estate market to share with you.

FIRST HALF 2010 REPORT

The increased activity and lower prices from the end of 2009 continued into 2010. Comparing the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, the island real estate market saw 80% more activity this year; in the first half of 2010, there were 195 sales compared to 108 in ’09. The dollar volume of sales increased 73% from $102mm to $177mm. And the average price dropped 5% from $950,074 in the first half of 2009 to $905,437 in the first half of 2010.

YEAR-END 2009 REPORT

The 2009 real estate market on Martha’s Vineyard ended with increased activity and lower prices than when the year began. Although the market was down in terms of number of transactions and dollar volume for the year, the second half of 2009 showed buyers taking advantage of good values that were available on the island. The number of transactions in second half ’09 was up 18% from second half ’08 while total dollar volume was down 4%, average price was down 19% and mean price was down 5%.

For the year generally, the Vineyard continued to feel the strains of the national economic situation. The number of transactions on the island declined 5% from 303 in 2008 to 289 in 2009. Total dollar volume of sales was also down 23%, from $347MM in ‘08 to $267MM in ’09. Median price fell 13% from $630,000 to $550,000 and average price was off 19% from $1,146,400 in 2008 to $923,462 in 2009. This sums up the broad landscape of the market but there are segments that are holding stronger than others and increased activity in 3^rd and 4^th quarters indicates the possibility of the beginning of a turnaround.

It is important to note that volume in terms of the number of transactions has been falling since 1998. Volume in terms of total dollars of real estate sold continued to increase from 1998 through 2005, as did median sales price, both indicators of rapid appreciation and the strong high-end segment of the market. In 2006, this phase of strong appreciation in real estate value on the island ended. The 2007 market began leveling off and slowed further in 2008 and 2009 during the economic recession.

We do not know if we have hit the bottom of the downturn in the real estate market on the island.  However, what we do know is that Martha’s Vineyard has been, and will always be, a desirable vacation destination with a finite inventory of real estate. The Vineyard has not experienced the radical price declines of other markets around the country.  Historically, Martha’s Vineyard real estate values have declined less, and recovered faster, in past recessions when compared to the overall national market. That said, the present market conditions offer buyers an expansive inventory of properties to choose from, excellent value, historically low interest rates, and strong local banks that are actively lending. This combination of elements creates an opportunity for buyers, and the results from second half 2009 indicate that buyers are starting to take advantage of the current situation.

Tea Lane Associates sold $35,661,000 of real estate in 2009, which represents 50% of the up-island market and 13% of the real estate market island-wide. We sold property in every town on the island and across a wide spectrum of price ranges, from $490,000 to $5,950,000 ($5,950,000 was the highest sale up-island for the year).

Source: www.masslandrecords.com Dukes County Assessors Office

Martha's Vineyard Real Estate Transactions - Average Price (blue diamonds) & Total Volume (green squares) by Year (000)

Number of Transactions by Year

Charts include all arms-length residential, commercial and land transactions; does not include time shares or partial purchases. Land Bank fees are 2% of Total Dollar Volume. Note: 2006 numbers do not include the $42million hotel sale that occurred in December 2006.

• Record high number of transactions occurred in 1998 with 1,000 transactions.
  
• Record high Total Dollar Volume occurred in 2005 at $644,145,000
  
• Record high Average Price occurred in 2007 at $1,359,400

• The 2009 market saw continued declines from 2008 in total market volume and number of transactions.
  
• Total dollar volume for Martha's Vineyard Real Estate in 2009 was just under $267million, down 23% from 2008 ($347million).
  
• All-island 2009 median price was $550,000 (this includes land sales), down 13% from 2008's median of $630,000. Up-island median for '09 was $735,000 and for '08 was $905,500.
  
• For sales of $4million or more, there were 10 for $62million in 2004, 14 for $106million in 2005, 23 for $180million in 2006, 19 for $151million in 2007, 12 for $94million in 2008, and 9 for $52million in 2009.
  
• Looking at the up-island market (West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah), total transactions decreased 21%, from 72 in 2008 to 57 in 2009; and total dollar volume was down 48% to $65million. However, the second half of 2009 in the up-island market was significantly stronger than the first half: the second half of 2009 brought in 67% of the transactions and 78% of the dollar volume for the year.