With its cobblestone lanes, acclaimed restaurants and postcard-perfect cedar-shingled cottages, Nantucket has long projected a rarefied charm — and an even rarer price tag.
The Massachusetts island has been named the most expensive real estate market in the United States, with nearly every home for sale listed at seven figures, according to Realtor.com’s latest luxury housing report.
The historic, hard-to-reach enclave — often called “Billionaire Isle” because of its roster of ultra-wealthy and celebrity homeowners — now carries a median listing price of $4.08 million.
Set roughly 30 miles off Cape Cod and reachable only by ferry or plane, Nantucket faces a built-in constraint that keeps its housing market under intense pressure: there is only so much land to develop. That scarcity has helped fuel a persistent housing shortage and steadily rising home prices.
Today, an extraordinary 99 percent of properties on the market are priced at $1 million or higher, placing Nantucket in a league of its own among America’s luxury real estate destinations.
Realtor.com’s report found that Nantucket outpaced other high-end communities on price, including Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, Jackson, Wyoming, and Aspen, Colorado — places where million-dollar homes are common, but still do not match Nantucket’s extreme concentration of luxury listings.
Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told the Daily Mail that other vacation hotspots may share some of Nantucket’s appeal, but none is a “perfect match.”
“Martha’s Vineyard is the most obvious comparison,” Fairweather said. “Martha’s Vineyard is another island off Cape Cod with a strong summer community.”
Nantucket is an island off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, making it a vacation hotspot for wealthy Americans
Nantucket is known for its unpainted cedar-shingled buildings, creating a uniquely quaint New England feel
Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin
‘But the Vineyard is larger, and more economically and racially diverse in comparison,’ she added. ‘It’s prestigious but doesn’t have quite the same concentration of ultra-high-net-worth buyers per square mile.’
Fairweather noted that the Hamptons on Long Island offer ‘comparable price points’ and a similar social scene, but the experience is ‘fundamentally different.’
Because the Hamptons are accessible by car there is generally more traffic and day-trippers. Nantucket’s island geography gives it a ‘seclusion’ the Hamptons can’t replicate.
As a result, Nantucket has become somewhat of a magnet for high-profile celebrities like designer Tommy Hilfiger, former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, actor Ben Stiller and former president Joe Biden.
Kourtney Kardashian famously vacationed on the island with her children and Scott Disick during summer 2016.
But while prices on Nantucket continue to soar, many of the island’s multimillion-dollar properties spend much of the year unoccupied.
According to a separate analysis, an estimated 55 percent of Nantucket’s housing stock consists of seasonal homes that are vacant for at least six months each year.
Rather than serving as full-time residences, many of the island’s estates act as summer retreats for affluent owners who arrive between Memorial Day and Labor Day before leaving the island largely quiet through the colder months.
On Zillow now, most available listings boast easy access to the beach, boating or other summer-esque activities. The most expensive home, a 8-bedroom estate with its own spa and pool house, costs an eye-watering $39.9 million.
Almost all homes in Nantucket are sold for over $1 million, with the most expensive listing on Zillow being $39.9 million
Nantucket also has world-class dining and a charming downtown with cafes and bookstores
The seasonal nature of the housing market has helped transform Nantucket into one of the country’s most exclusive vacation destinations – but it has also fueled affordability concerns for year-round residents, who face an increasingly limited supply of homes.
Luxury real estate advisor Christian Perry of Sotheby’s International Realty told the Daily Mail that Nantucket real estate is, generally, an ‘appreciating asset.’ In addition to long-term value growth, many properties can also make hearty rental income.
‘On the downside, getting contractors to the island and completing work within a specific budget and timeframe can be challenging and somewhat unpredictable,’ Perry said. ‘That said, Nantucket does have an airport that I love flying into.’
Perry takes his family to Nantucket every year – and it’s something they always look forward to. Museums and art galleries aside, the ‘downtown’ section of Nantucket is home to world-class seafood restaurants, high-end boutiques and everything in between.
There are boating, fishing and water sport excursions available to vacationers, as well as pristine beaches on several parts of the island.
‘We love spending time at Cisco Beach, getting ice cream and visiting the toy store,’ he said. ‘There really isn’t anywhere quite like it. Nantucket is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s a place I return to every single year.’
