Vineyard Town Values 2004

 

Each Vineyard town has its own special qualities and desirable features as any visitor discovers. Don't stop at the superficial "Main Street" overview of a town but poke down the side streets and check out the public areas whether parks beaches or Land Bank properties.

Exploring the Island
Stop in at the Land Bank office in Edgartown and pick up a map that will guide you down walking paths to the ponds and hills and beaches over the entire Island. This is where the 2% fee on every property sale is going. That's quite a number when the total arm's length transactions were almost $560,000,000 in 2004.

An Investment the Entire Family can Enjoy!
If you become a buyer on Martha's Vineyard future generations will have you to thank among all the other buyers who have fallen in love or just found real estate on Martha's Vineyard to be the best place to put their money. The whole family can enjoy your investment in your future! The figures we've used are based on year round population. Summer visitors and residents swell the Island and a guesstimate by the Martha's Vineyard Commission is that the summer population swells to over 75,000.

Harborside Realty of Martha's Vineyard has provided this analysis for the visitor to MVOL.com. We are one of the oldest offices doing business on the Vineyard and have followed trends and events in our industry since 1960. We hope this is a helpful overview and that you will call one of our knowledgeable agents for any more information regarding the Vineyard market.

AQUINNAH

Gay Head changed its name in 1998 to Aquinnah to reflect its Wampanoag Indian beginnings and character. Many Native Americans form the year round population of 450 living on the 6.2 square miles on the northwest tip of the Island. Last years tax rate was $3.49 per thousand valuation. Total assessed value for 2005 was a little over $600 million. Check out the views from the cliffs and see one of the oldest revolving lighthouses in the country dating back to 1799. There were 14 sales of land and dwellings in Aquinnah in 2004. Median sales price of homes was $1,022,000.

CHILMARK

The next town going east makes up an area of 20.58 square miles and has the lowest tax rate, $1.96 for 2005. The year round population is 946. With rolling hills, stone walls and open farmland very much in evidence one can easily see why Chilmark property commands top prices. Chilmark's total assessed values are over $2 billion. Forty-two properties changed hands in 2004 in Chilmark. The median sales price was $1,363,000.

WEST TISBURY

Continuing "down island" you find the wonderfully rural West Tisbury with a population of 2429 scattered across its 25.46 square miles. The tax rate for 2005 is $4.52 and total assessed value for this year is over $2.5 billion. There were a total of sixty-five sales in West Tisbury in 2004 with a median sales price of $875,000.

TISBURY

The year-round port of entry for the ferry service, Tisbury with its principal town of Vineyard Haven has a population of 3,412 on 7.19 square miles. West Chop Lighthouse marks the entrance to the harbor which boasts a large wooden boat fleet. The Tisbury tax rate is $5.86 (residential) and the total assessed value is $2,298,387,500. There were 139 sales of land and homes in last year and the median sales price was $545,000.

OAK BLUFFS

Founded in the mid 1800's as a Methodist Camp Meeting community, the heart of Oak Bluffs is in the "Campground" with its gingerbread cottages surrounding the Tabernacle which is a National Registry Historic structure. Ferries come in the summer from Woods Hole, Hyannis, Rhode Island, Nantucket, Falmouth and New Bedford creating a bustling down town and waterfront. Oak Bluffs is spread over 7.14 square miles between Edgartown and Tisbury, with a year round population of 4000 people. There were 176 sales of land and homes in 2004 and a median sales price of $5000 and a tax rate of $6.07 for 2005.

EDGARTOWN

Edgartown is made up of Chappaquiddick and the popular Katama area and was the first colonial settlement, and county seat since 1642. It has public access to beaches on Vineyard Sound and the Atlantic for swimming and fishing, the Harbor for boating and shell fishing and Edgartown Great Pond for kayaking and birding. The 2000
Census shows it to be the town with the largest year-round population of 3579. It is also largest in land area, 26.79 and a total property assessment of $5,351,865,050. The tax rate for 2005 is $3.05 and last year 212 properties were exchanged at a median price of $630,000.