N A N T U C K E T
AUTUMN
Autumn is here and we have been enjoying brisker days, earlier sunsets and cozy fires at night. It is a wonderful me of the year to catch up with friends a er our very busy summer. There are so many ac vi es on Nantucket now in the offseason months. Commercial scalloping has started and there are s ll about 20 boats going out daily. Next up is Thanksgiving (with the Cold Turkey Plunge), the ligh ng of the trees in Town and holiday ac vi es including the Wreath Exhibi on and Fes val of Trees at the Nantucket Historical Associa on. Perhaps the biggest news this fall is that Nantucket voters turned out for a Special Town Mee ng last week and voted to pass Ar cle 1 which codifies all rentals (short and long-term) into Nantucket’s Zoning By-Law. It stops the privately funded lawsuits against our neighbors and the Town. The uncertainty that the island has been living with is no more, at least for the me being (more on this on page 3).
Here are some highlights on the real estate market on Nantucket as of the end of Q3 2025: there have been 324 sales in the first 9 months of this year (+49% from last year) for a total of $1,125,778,000 (+28%). It is not unusual, since 2019, for total sales to exceed $1 billion per year and we hit it in September, pu ng us on track to have total sales in excess of $1.5 billion for 2025. The average sale price (of all proper es sold) has dropped from $3.995M to $3.475M (-13%). The average me on the market is now 7 months, up from 5 months in 2024. The average selling price, as a percentage of list price, has dropped to 90%, down slightly from 91% last year. The average selling price, as a percentage of assessed value, is 139%, up from 136% last year.
Nantucket is primarily a discre onary real estate market, driven by second, or third homeowners. Most buyers do not have to buy on Nantucket. It is no surprise that the proper es that are selling the most rapidly are those that are in pris ne condi on and with a high level of ameni es and finishes, including swimming pools. The Mid-Island (56) and Town (47) con nue to have the largest number of sales, which makes sense given the density of these areas. There have been no sales yet this year in Beachplum, Madequecham, Polpis, Shawkemo and Shimmo. Con nued on Page 2....
MARKETNEWS
(continued from page 1)
The average selling price of a residen al property on Nantucket is now $4,535,000 (sta s cally the same as 2024). The median home sale is $3,235,000 (-11%). The average vacant lot is selling for $1,925,000 (-29%); and the median vacant land sale is $1,500,000 (-36%). More than 78% of all property sales on Nantucket were over $1M. And 45% of all sales to date this year have been over $5M. Of the 5 sales less than $500,000 this year, 3 were Covenant proper es, one was a parcel of vacant land and one was a co age located in an area subject to erosion. To date in 2025 there have been 21 sales of commercial property on the island, averaging $3.4M. The least expensive commercial sale was a two car garage building in the Mid-Island area for $800,000 and the priciest was 5 North Water, a property with two structures, an historic building, and a theater building in the heart of Town for $9,485,000.
At the end of Q3 there were only 156 property lis ngs ac vely on the market, about half what it was prior to 2020. In the pre-pandemic years, the average number of lis ngs ranged between 350 and 400. Inventory con nues to be low due to the unusually large number of sales between 2020 and 2023 when market absorp on was at an unprecedented high. Add to this the fact that many owners are holding their proper es and it has created a market with fewer transac ons.
The Nantucket real estate market exceeded $1B for the first me in 2017 and the average, since then has been $1.4 billion in annual sales. The outlier years were 2020 ($1.8 billion) and 2021 ($2.3 billion) as people escaped to places like Nantucket that were perceived as safe during the pandemic. It is important to note that, historically, just under 35% of sales on Nantucket close in the first half of the year meaning that more than 65% of all sales dollars close in the last two quarters of the year. Based on market ac vity for the first three quarters of 2025, it is likely that total sales on Nantucket will exceed $1.5 billion this year. Atlan c East has addi onal deep sta s cal analysis available. Please contact your favorite Atlan c East broker if you would like more informa on on your property or on the market in general.
Nantucket Home Prices
<$1M
$1-$2M
$2-$3M
$3-$4M
$4-$5M
$5-$7M
$7-$10M
Nantucket Voters LegalizeAll Rentals and End Lawsuits
On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, over 1500 island registered voters turned out for a Special Town Mee ng, called by charter fishing boat captain Brian Borgeson. A er 6 years of community divisiveness, it was clear that voters wanted to end the assault on their property rights that has created so much economic uncertainty for the future of Nantucket. It was a single issue town mee ng with only two ar cles on the warrant. The mee ng started nearly an hour late because over 400 people were lined up around the outside of the school building wai ng to get into the mee ng. Our moderator, Sarah Alger, said we would not start un l everyone was seated. There were so many people that organizers had to use, in addi on to the main auditorium, two separate gyms to accommodate everyone. Within an hour and fi een minutes, voters had, with a clear super majority (71% to 29%), passed Ar cle 1, the Ci zens' ar cle, which codifies all rentals (short and long-term) into Nantucket's Zoning By-law, and ends the lawsuits funded by ACK-Now against neighbors and the Town of Nantucket. It was truly democracy in its purest form.
Ar cle 2, sponsored by the Planning Board and cra ed with input from the Nantucket Land and Water Council and ACK-Now, would have restricted the right to short-term rent to only 49 days between June 15 and August 31, a reduc on of nearly 40% of high season weeks. It also allowed an addi onal 21 days outside of high season for a total of only 70 days annually. A er the passage of Ar cle 1, the Planning Board chair made a mo on to take no ac on on Ar cle 2. The mo on passed 1198-210, effec vely killing the ar cle.
What was different about this town mee ng? The local business community got involved and were not willing to accept limita ons that impacted their businesses. There was no way to know the true outcome without an economic impact study or an enforcement plan. Nantucket voters realized that they hold the power to set our course, not a PAC or those who do not live and vote here. A er six years of unending discussion about short-term rentals, the relief was palpable a er Ar cle 1 passed and Ar cle 2 did not.
A homeowner who was sued by her neighbor for ren ng short-term, and who has had to fund and a end countless hearings and trials, shared with us that last Tuesday was 4 years to the day since she and her family were sued for doing what has long been a tradi on on Nantucket, ren ng to visitors. Perhaps there is some poe c jus ce in here somewhere
Vacation Rental Owners: Time to Register!
Chapter 123, the Nantucket short term rental registry regula on, was adopted by the Annual Town Mee ng on May 2, 2022. The purpose of which was, among other things, to create a process for iden fying, registering and regula ng short-term rentals to ensure they do not create or cause any nuisance condi ons on Nantucket. The regula on also allowed for the crea on of a 24/7 'rental hotline' to report nuisance proper es to the Nantucket Health Department for enforcement. This season there were a total of 5 calls to the hotline, 2 of which were to inquire whether or not a house was, in fact, a short-term rental.
st As of October 31 , all applicable short term rental proper es should have applied for the renewal of their STR permit for the 2026 season. In order to remain in compliance and avoid penal es, Atlan c East, as your intermediary, must post your local permit number in all adver sing of your home. If you have not provided us with your permit number, please do so as soon as possible so that we may be in compliance with the regula ons. If you are ren ng a total of 14 days or less within the calendar year, you do NOT need to register with the Town of Nantucket. If you are ren ng for a minimum of 32 days or longer to each guest, you do NOT need to register with the Town of Nantucket, but in both cases, please let Atlan c East know so that we may adver se accordingly. If you are not sure if you have provided us with the applicable info, please contact the office at 508-228-7707 X-210 or email to Office@NantucketRealEstate.com.
If you haven't already ini ated your permit applica on, please do so at your earliest convenience by clicking . If you HERE would like step by step instruc ons to register, please click . Feel free to reach out to us with any ques ons. HERE
SNAPSHOT OF NANTUCKET REALESTATE as of Q3 2025
There are currently only 152 active listings, 58 pending sales, 324 closed salesYTD, the average residential price is the same as in 2024 and average land price is down 29% from 2024, average time on market is up from 5 to 7 months, and the average selling price, as a percentage of list price is 90% and 139% of assessed value.
The Nantucket Historical Associa on is known for its museums and living history exhibi ons including the Whaling Museum (where one can see a sperm whale skeleton, among other wonderful oddi es from afar). For the past few years, the NHA has expanded their workshop offerings to the public all year round. They offer a number of classes in the decora ve arts such as scrimshaw, lightship baskets, transfer ware and sailor’s valen nes, many of them held at the 1800 House. The quality of instruc on is top-notch and it is a fun way to learn something new, especially in the off-season. For a full schedule please visit them at h ps://nha.org/whats-on/programs/decora ve-arts/
What Does the Zoning Board ofAppeals Do?
The Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals has the job of making sure that proper es are in compliance with the Town’s zoning by-law. The Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals exists because, in 1972, Nantucket voters chose to adopt a zoning by-law at the annual town mee ng. The By-law’s purpose is to “promote the health, safety, convenience, morals and general welfare of Nantucket’s inhabitants, to lessen the danger from fire and conges on and to improve the town...” Chapter 139 of the Code of the Town of Nantucket sets out the powers and du es of the board and for the most part parallels the power and du es set out for such boards by commonwealth law. They hear cases and, when warranted, grant zoning relief. The five member board (with three alternates) is appointed by Nantucket Select Board and they meet monthly throughout the year. For more informa on visit: h ps://www.nantucket-ma.gov/287/Zoning-Board-of-Appeals
This andThat
New Requirement for Sellers and Buyers: Massachuse s now requires a new disclosure form to be signed by the seller and given to the prospec ve buyer of a property prior to execu on of an offer to purchase. This disclosure informs the buyer that they are en tled to have home inspec ons. An offer must have an inspec on con ngency. However, a buyer can elect not to have inspec ons, but we highly recommend that inspec ons are done. Among other things, inspec ons are valuable for understanding what capital improvements may be coming due. For more informa on on this, please contact your broker
Behind the Scenes: Penny Dey’s third film, Two Nights for a Quarter, was shown at the Nantucket Shorts Fes val in October and received the Audience Favorite Award. The film tells the (mostly) true story of a Nantucket handy man who, struggling a er the decline of whaling placed an adver sement in the Inquirer & Mirror in 1888 that read, “Benjamin Cleveland, available to sleep at the homes of mid women on stormy nights. Fi een cents for one night, two nights for a quarter. Inquire in person at 9 Eagle Lane.” Penny likes to use film to tell Nantucket stories that may be disappearing. She made the narra ve short last winter working with an all local cast and crew.
Penny Dey, GRI, ABRM, Broker/Owner
Linda Bellevue, GRI, CBR; Heidi Drew, ABR, RSPS, SRS; Peter DuPont; Angel Conrad Frazier; Mary D. Malavase, GRI, ABR, RSPS, SFR; Erikka Perkins, Admin. Business Operations; Meg Ruley, ABR, RSPS; Lisa Sherburne, ABR, RSPS; Melinda Vallett; Geri Walker, RSPS, SFR; Mary O’Donnell, Office Manager and Yesenia Valer, Office Manager
We believe in doing one thing and in doing it well!
508.228.7707 NantucketRealEstate.com A t l a n t i c E a s t N A N T U C K E T R E A L E S T A T E
82 Easton Street Nantucket MA 02554
Volume XXI, Issue 4, Autumn 2025
