Greetings from Martha’s Vineyard!  Spring has arrived on the Island and summer is not far away.  Seasonal stores are re-opening, and the local landscapers and painters are scurrying about attending to properties as the Island awakens with eager anticipation for the return of the season and her patrons again!

The mild winter weather experienced across much of the south coast of New England coupled with sustained mortgage rates and the exceedingly low level of inventory all contributed to some quick and successful transactions early this year to get ahead of the expected seasonal competition. We practitioners customarily speculate during the early Spring how many units and from which market segments new inventory may materialize to help replenish local housing stock. Our supply remains woefully below pre-Covid levels, which is not an unusual condition affecting just Martha’s Vineyard, as the entire country is suffering through an inventory deficit. However, the persistent demand has continued to outpace available supply on-Island, and thus contributed to the sustained level of elevated prices. While year-over-year average prices have moderated modestly, this condition appears likely to continue for the foreseeable future, especially given the finite nature being an island that has few channels available to tap for inventory replenishment.

Much as the closing months of 2023 demonstrated, the First Quarter median and average sales prices were directly correlated with the characteristics found within the current, albeit limited inventory. And no market segment is insulated from this local dynamic.

For your consideration, here are the meaningful and perhaps surprising statistics from activity realized during the First Quarter of 2024:

Last Spring, there were only 88 total residential units listed for sale. As of this writing, there are a few more now at 110 for mid-April. As aforementioned, there likely will be new listings forthcoming to take part in the customary “spring market”. But the spring selling season has already begun and the activation of these new candidates for resale have been few thus far.

A total of 43 residential properties were sold among the Island towns within the First Quarter, which is 37% fewer than were sold a year ago for the same period at 68. Home sales were transacted across the Island as follows: Edgartown-9, Oak Bluffs-17, Vineyard Haven-9, West Tisbury-6, Chilmark-2, and Aquinnah-0.

While total residential unit sales have continued to decrease on-Island, median sales prices for Q1 have increased 6% from $1.512M to $1.600M, while average prices have modestly decreased 14% from $2.309M to $1.992M year-over-year for the same period. Island-wide, average residential property sales have thus far captured 94.7% of their final asking prices and garnered on average 130% of their respective tax assessments.

Several customers and clients of our agency have expressed some concern that we are in a “real estate bubble”, which is understandable given the recent realized price appreciation. However, the current market conditions do not at all resemble the poor health of the credit markets or the existence of toxic lending practices that contributed to the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Rather, the current market continues to suffer from the simple effects of low supply and high demand, which for a small, finite market like Martha’s Vineyard, will take longer to normalize than off-Island. Therefore, this aspect will allow prices to remain elevated but stable until more supply is contributed to the marketplace, and that will simply take more time to resolve.

The cadre of buyers interested in acquiring property on Martha’s Vineyard remains significant. And there are many prospective buyers who are willing and able, just eagerly waiting for a suitable opportunity to present itself. So being informed and prepared with all Offer documents being “trigger ready” for submission is critical within this competitive environment. The better priced, well-conditioned properties are almost guaranteed to receive multiple bids within days of being listed for sale. Therefore, offer strategies should be considered carefully. Please contact one of our agents to help you navigate these changing waters in buying property on Martha’s Vineyard.

Summer is coming to the Vineyard. Please visit www.mvlandmarks.com to view a comprehensive list of all available Island listings for sale.  And as always, do not hesitate to contact us with your questions concerning properties of interest, and Martha’s Vineyard real estate concerns in general.