the small island with some of the most expensive real estate in the world

Since Biden became president of the United States in 2021, Air Force One has flown into Nantucket's tiny airport every Thanksgiving, disgorging a fleet of armored vehicles and intelligence officers. His visits should be less stressful for residents in the future.

Biden and his family have been visiting Nantucket for 40 years and are staying there as guests of billionaire David Rubenstein on his $30 million estate.

In the 1980s, the president could have bought a house on the small island for a few hundred thousand dollars. But if Biden was thinking of creating a retirement retreat for himself and his wife, Jill, he would need the resources of a private equity investor to afford one today.

“If someone is considering Nantucket as an investment, the threshold is too high,” says Penny Dey, owner of Atlantic East Nantucket Real Estate. Nantucket, which measures 14 miles by 3.5 miles, currently has some of the most expensive real estate in the world, with average home prices of $4.1 million.

In July, a seven-bedroom waterfront home sold for $24 million, the highest price ever paid for a single-family home on the island. It features a 400-foot private dock but hasn't been renovated since 1993. That's a lot of money for a home in need of renovation.

It's not far from another property that briefly held the all-time island sales record: a property owned by Boston Red Sox baseball team owner John Henry, which sold in several separate transactions in 2022 for a total of $37 million.

Even “quaint cottages,” as realtors describe them, are selling for millions. A row of small waterfront cottages near Nantucket Harbor at Old North Wharf sold two years ago for about $6.7 million each.

And earlier this year, Dey sold a one-bedroom home in need of renovation for $1.2 million.

“Real estate prices on Nantucket have increased nearly 40 percent from 2019 to this year,” Dey explains. “This is due to the pandemic, when wealthy people fled to places like Nantucket that were considered safer. We've recently closed some deals valued at over $10 million,” she adds. “We have buyers from all over the world.”

The average real estate price on Nantucket is $4.1 million

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Rents are also high, ranging from $4,000 a week for a modest two-bedroom cottage near town and the harbor to $85,000 a week. And since everything is more expensive than on the mainland because it has to be imported, Nantucket is not for those on a budget.

In fact, real estate prices are so high that locals earning over $100,000 are eligible for government-subsidized housing.

“The most popular properties are new builds and renovations,” says Dey.

“The city continues to be as popular as Sconset (on the East Coast) and anything with water access or a nice view,” she adds. “Today's buyers don't want to wait for a renovation that can take up to two years.”

Brant Point Lighthouse

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It's not hard to see why the appeal of Nantucket's leisurely pace of life, pristine beaches, trails and bike paths along bluffs and coves, breathtaking sunsets and numerous fine dining restaurants draws wealthy media magnates, sailing enthusiasts and billionaire businessmen to invest in a home away from it all on a paradise island that looks like a movie set.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is one of the typical homeowners lured by the golf courses and sailing opportunities of this Massachusetts oasis, just 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.

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Nantucket's quirkiness and history also have great appeal. Many locals are descended from the original 20 settlers who bought the land from English Puritan Thomas Mayhew in 1659 for £30 and two beaver hats.

One of them was Tristram Coffin, whose name adorns many of the buildings.

His sons and grandsons established a successful whaling community on the island that traded with England, which convinced the islanders to remain neutral during the American War of Independence (1775-83).

Gardiner's Corner

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About 800 of Nantucket's homes predate the American Civil War (1861-65), adding to its architectural charm. There are also memorials to notable heroes, such as slavery abolitionist Lucretia Coffin Mott.

Conservation has also helped preserve Nantucket's character and maritime history.

More than 50 percent of the land is protected. Only 40 percent is built on, leaving only 5 percent for construction. “Limited land and high demand are leading to rising prices,” says Dey.

Strict regulations dictate how homeowners can clad the exterior of their homes — cedar shingles or New England-style white clapboards, which, combined with the ornate Greek Revival doors and tall columns of older homes, create attractive, low-rise developments connected by paved streets. No building can be more than 32 feet tall, and America's big-box retailers are excluded.

Brotherhood of Thieves is a popular restaurant on the island

JANE SLADE

There is only one chain store: Ralph Lauren. And no McDonald's, Starbucks, Burger King or Walmart. Instead, the streets are filled with independent antique shops, bookstores, boutiques and gift shops. One of the most popular restaurants in the historic district is the catchily named Brotherhood of Thieves, housed in an 1840s whaling bar.

Nantucket's low crime rate bodes well for families looking to escape the drug-, gun-, high-rise- and traffic-congested highways of major American cities.

Many homeowners do not live permanently on Nantucket. The island, aptly named the “Gray Lady of the Sea,” is often covered in fog and mist that can suddenly descend and engulf the island during the winter months, lingering for days at a time, making flights there and back impossible.

Nantucket is quieter and more peaceful than its flashier and better-known neighbor Martha's Vineyard, which is twice the size, less expensive and easier to get to. The Kennedys made the island famous, and the Obamas have a home there, as do television host Oprah Winfrey, film director Spike Lee and singer Carly Simon.

The historic district of the island

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But Nantucket is getting busier.

“In the '60s and '70s, Nantucket was much harder to reach,” explains Dey. “There were only slow boats and they took between four and six hours.”

“Now we have several daily high-speed passenger ferries that take just an hour from the Cape, and you can fly direct from Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Chicago and Boston. This makes the island much more accessible and attracts people who can come for shorter and more frequent visits.”

With daily flights from London to Boston, Nantucket is also becoming increasingly attractive to wealthy Britons.

It is also very quirky. Founding father Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born here and a fountain was installed in her place along the main street.

Real estate prices on Nantucket rose nearly 40 percent from 2019 to 2024

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While Nantucket's landscape of beaches, dunes and windswept interior is idyllic for some, climate change threatens its survival. Already, erosion of coastlines and cliffs has forced some owners to pay seven-figure sums to move their homes further inland.

A three-bedroom oceanfront home listed for sale on the South Coast in September for $2.2 million dropped to just $600,000 after the beach eroded 70 feet in a matter of weeks, putting the home in imminent danger. But it still sold.

And a billionaire's multi-million dollar beach house had to be demolished in April after erosion and storms left the property unsalvageable. The owner, the head of an American investment firm, Barry Sternlicht, has a fortune of around $2.8 billion, according to Forbes, so the financial loss was just a drop in the ocean.

By 2070, more than 2,300 buildings on Nantucket — 84 percent of homes — will be at risk of flooding or erosion, according to projections in the town's 2021 Coastal Resilience Plan, forcing property owners to strengthen their coastal defenses or move their homes away from shrinking bluffs.

However, real estate prices are currently anything but falling steeply, as there are many buyers who are willing to take the risk.