About Nantucket County, MA

October on Nantucket is truly a delight with multi-colored foliage lining Main Street, thousands of plump cranberries floating in the Milestone bogs and golden windswept grasses nearly everywhere you look. This year, even the October real estate market was a surprising delight. With nearly $90 million in October property sales, representing the best sales month so far this year, the fourth quarter started off with a bang.

Through October 31, 2009, a total of 223 transactions brought in cumulative sales of $329 million, down 8 percent and 32 percent respectively from the same period in 2008. While a year-to-date comparison shows 2009 still trailing prior years, monthly sales volume for October was nearly double the volume seen in October 2008 and approximates levels seen in 2006 and 2007. In fact, in the month of October, there were 50 property transactions and $89 million in sales, up 85 percent and 71 percent respectively from October 2008. Not only do sale surpass October 2008, but as compared to the previous 5 year average, it represents the first time the 2009 monthly sales gap has been smaller than 33 percent. With September representing the first 2009 month to post a year-to-year increase, and October knocking the yearly comparison out of the park, the market's momentum certainly seems to be picking up.

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http://www.bainmortgage.com/MyBlog Getting Approved for a Mortgage is about to get tougher. September 29th, 2009 Dana Bain http://www.bainmortgage.com/MyBlog What Are The New Changes? For the second time in less than 3 months, Fannie Mae announced changes to its mortgage guidelines. In its official announcement, Fannie Mae details the updates, meant to reduce the mortgage firm’s overall risk. The first major change is with respect to credit scoring. All Fannie Mae loans — whether underwritten electronically or manually — require a 620 credit score minimum. There are very few exceptions. A second change relates to loans with private mortgage insurance. Homeowners whose loan-to-value exceeds 80 percent now have a choice: Accept higher mortgage insurance premiums month-after-month Accept a one-time fee paid at closing to compensate for higher risk Both options pass higher costs to consumers. New Guidelines Begin December 12th 2009 Then, a third change relates to maximum debt-to-income ratio. As announced in a separate document, Fannie Mae will no longer approve expense ratios exceeding 45 percent except with very strong assets and credit to back it up. In no case can expense ratios exceed 50 percent. There are other changes, too, including the elimination of seldom-used mortgage products and new risk-based pricing on “expanded level” approvals. Fannie Mae implements its updates during the weekend of December 12. Therefore, if you’re going to need (or want) a new mortgage later this year, consider moving up your timeframe to October or November. Once the guidelines change, getting approved for a mortgage is going to be tougher.

Goldman Sachs President & COO Jon Winkelried is looking for a buyer for his 5.9 acre Monomoy property on Nantucket Island. The New York Times ran an article yesterday announcing the sale, reporting that "Mr. Winkelried's listing agent confirmed a memo sent to members of the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers saying that the property was for sale. She would not confirm that Mr. Winkelried was her client."

Two paragraphs later in the Times article, I read "The property is being offered for sale privately and isn't being listed with NAREB members..." Okay. I'm confused. He has a listing agent, but this is something akin to a pocket listing? And neither the seller's identity nor the status of the listing is a matter of public record?

It's a mystery. I dug a little deeper. The New York Times credits an article on the Daily News Tribune's website announcing the offering. That article includes the following:

"A memo obtained by The Nantucket Independent, which was sent to all Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers members on Oct. 7 from Congdon & ColemanReal Estate broker Linda Bellevue, Winkelried's listing agent, with an aerial photo of the two lots, confirmed that the property is for sale.

Sources close to The Nantucket Independent confirmed the asking price as $55 million and that the property is being offered for sale privately and not being listed with all NAREB members.

Bellevue said she signed a confidentiality agreement with her client and would neither confirm the asking price nor the name of her client. She said her client was a very private person."

I searched the Congdon & Coleman website, but neither Winkelried's home on 1.7 acres nor the adjacent lot are listed for sale on the website at the moment.

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