Nantucket Island Massachusetts Directory of Real Estate Resources

The Independent came out with another article in the series on Nantucket real estate. It⦡mp;#8364;™s titled ⦡mp;#8364;œIf there⦡mp;#8364;™s a will, there may be a way⦡mp;#8364;? and it addresses financing issues with bank loans and borrowing money.

The other articles in this series include:
1. Market has reached unprecedented highs
2. Forget location and think appreciation

The global boom in house prices has been driven by two common factors: historically low interest rates have encouraged home buyers to borrow more money; and households have lost faith in equities after stockmarkets plunged, making property look attractive.

Will prices now fall, or simply flatten off? And in either case, what will be the consequences for economies around the globe?

This article about The global housing boom by the Economist explores this in greater detail.

There is a well written article in from the Nantucket Independent addressing how the island�€™s real estate market has risen, dipped and surged to new heights in over three decades.

�€œThe old-line Yankees aren�€™t as plentiful as they used to be,�€� said our own Pepper Frazier, Sr. �€œBostonians are still here, but the New York and Washington influence is being felt and there is a pretty good San Francisco group here, a lot of people who have made a lot of money. There doesn�€™t seem to be any signs of a slow down now. I�€™m becoming jaded �€” if [a property] is only $10 million I wonder why it�€™s so low.�€�

In Hammy Heard�€™s opinion, the island real estate market will …

To make a smart choice on a home mortgage, you need to know which fees to pay attention to and which costs to ignore until later.

Some lenders are more thorough than others when they estimate the fees and taxes involved in a transaction, making it confusing to comparison-shop.

taxes, title insurance and prepaid items — the online lenders in Bankrate’s survey are inconsistent, often incomplete and frequently inaccurate.

Get the basics on comparing closing costs from this article.

Measly returns on Wall Street over the last few years make the hottest housing market on record seem like a sure thing. It’s not.
By Forbes.com

Where’s a better place to put your money: the stock market or real estate? These days the accepted wisdom (at least at cocktail parties) says to pick real estate. But is the accepted wisdom right?

It is — in the short term. U.S. real estate sale prices increased more than 56% from the beginning of 1999 to the end of 2004, as tracked by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The S&P 500 index ($INX) dipped nearly 6% during that same period.

But if you …

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but defining what makes a luxury home luxurious depends on more than just your eye. Though personal taste is still the most important factor in finding a luxury home, what makes something a ⦡mp;#8364;œluxury⦡mp;#8364;? home depends on a number of factors. According to several Boston area real estate professionals, location, amenities, and views are all important criteria. Despite the different markets that they serve, those interviewed all agree on one thing: Today, it⦡mp;#8364;™s the amenities that are in a house or condominium that matters, not just its size. What one buyer may consider a luxury, another may not.

People want to create an ease of living that is push button and …

A new analysis shows that cash-strapped state and local governments have increasingly come to depend on property taxes to fill revenue shortfalls as other sources of income soured.

Though not an unexpected trend during economic downturns, the reliance on property taxes has lasted well beyond the end of the recession of 2001. Economists say it is has been of greater depth, and likely will have more lasting consequences, than it did during prior downturns.

Read Article on this By RAY A. SMITH Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Some 930,000 new houses were sold in America last year, most of them variations on only a few basic themes. There are good reasons for this: Builders figure Colonials, capes and other traditional styles have the broadest market appeal.

With an modern and unusual house design consider the following:

Expect to be able to borrow less.
Your builder will need some handholding.
Be prepared for sticker shock.
Have some free time.
Size up the neighborhood — and the neighbors.
Be creative about resale.

All that said, you may discover that building a unique home breeds a special kind of attachment. If all goes well with your project, selling will be the furthest thing from your mind.

You can read this article from RealEstateJournal.com for more …

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Housing prices continue to defy forecasts of a slowdown.

Nationally, median home prices gained 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter versus the same period in 2003, according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report.

Here are the figures for areas around Massachusetts (Nantucket wasn’t listed)

Boston MA 9.4% $387,800
Springfield MA 10.7% $171,200
Worcester MA 9.2% $276,500

To see the entire list View Article