The Vineyard Gazette this week announced publication of the first Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate Yearbook, an annual resource guide for anyone interested in buying or selling property on the Island.

Published in partnership with LINK, the primary multiple listing service for Martha’s Vineyard, the yearbook provides a comprehensive look at property transactions by town and neighborhood over the 12-month fiscal year that ended July 1, 2012.

The yearbook features color pictures and other details of more than 400 homes that changed hands last year, including their location, lot size, living area and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. The listings are accompanied by descriptions of more than 30 Vineyard neighborhoods, an analysis of real estate trends on the Island and other useful information for those buying or selling a Vineyard home. Advertisers include real estate professionals and others who offer services of interest to new homeowners. The yearbook was edited by Gazette news editor Vanessa Czarnecki.

Jane Seagrave, publisher of the Gazette, said the yearbook is designed to give potential buyers and sellers a broad overview of a market that is more complicated than it first appears.

“Visitors to the Vineyard are often surprised at the diversity of our six towns and the wide range of housing options available,” she said. “By focusing on neighborhoods, this guide offers a way to look at the real estate market through a lens that is different from what other real estate publications and websites offer.”

The yearbook is one facet of a new multi-year partnership between the Gazette and LINK, which tracks all arm’s-length purchases of real estate on the Vineyard. LINK provided much of the data for the yearbook, including comparative year-to-year statistics and analysis. The goal of the partnership is to augment the work of real estate professionals by ensuring that information available to the public is complete and accurate.

Deb Blair, president of LINK, said that as the public’s appetite for information about real estate continues to increase, her company believes it is important to work with publishers that value high quality and readability.

“LINK is committed to providing the real estate community with comprehensive and reliable information to support and facilitate their work,” she said. “With the Gazette, we believe we’ve found a partner that shares our high standards.”

Copies of the 96-page yearbook will be mailed to subscribers of the Vineyard Gazette and Martha’s Vineyard Magazine over the next few weeks. Additional copies will be available at select locations around the Vineyard. If you can’t find a copy, please drop by the Gazette or email office@mvgazette.com.