Take a stroll along William Street in Vineyard Haven and you’ll be transported back to the 1800s. Greek Revival homes line the street with gable roofs, double-hung windows, and white clapboard siding. Many properties in the area are named after their original owners too. Such is the case for the home at 49 William Street, which recently sold for $2,860,000.

Dubbed the John Swain House, the 3,186-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom home was built in 1838. Three years later, Swain expanded the lot by ninety-nine feet and built a barn, which today serves as a one-bedroom, one-bathroom guest house. Apparently, Swain had the foresight to consider the Island’s future housing shortage when he added to his property. 

The Crunch

17 – Number of properties sold in the month prior to publication. Up from 15 during the same time frame in the previous year.

172 – Number of properties on the market at the time of publication. Up from 147 in the year prior during the same time frame.

$4.6 M – Highest price paid for a property in the month prior to publication: a single-family home in the Chappaquiddick neighborhood of Edgartown.

$625 K – Lowest price paid for a property in the month prior to publication: a commercial building in the Tashmoo neighborhood of Vineyard Haven.   

$1.3 M – Median price of properties sold in the month prior to publication.

36.6 – Percent of Island homeowners who use the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, which runs the FAIR Plan, as their homeowners insurance provider.

Based on arms-length transactions recorded by LINK, the Island's multiple listing service.