Meaningful real estate trends hard to find in mid-year market report

Except for a 13.7 percent drop in the median price, significant trends are hard to find in midyear 2012 Shelter Island real estate sales compared to the same period last year.

The number of sales as of June 30 dipped slightly from 23 in 2011 to 22 this year and the number of listed properties edged down from 161 to 158, according to data provided by Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in its mid-year town market report for Shelter Island.

The average price rose sharply compared to last year’s value but a single sale worth $8,250,000 — far above last year’s top mid-year price of $2,970,000 — skewed the number. The average rose to $1,403,886 compared to $1,047,370 on June 30 last year, an increase of 34 percent. But the median price, which is not affected by the value of the highest sale, fell from $775,000 in 2011 to $668,750 by June 30 this year, a decline of 13.7 percent.

The number of days that properties remained on the market dropped from 367 to 274, a decrease of 25 percent.