Median Sale Price Reaches $276,000 Among Five Disclosed Orange Deeds

ORANGE -- Sixteen properties changed hands in Orange between June 19 and July 18, but only five deeds included a recorded sale price, and four of those five buyers were mortgage companies or a credit union rather than individual homebuyers.

MARKET OVERVIEW Franklin County Registry of Deeds records show 16 property transfers in Orange during the period. Of those, five disclosed a sale price, ranging from $225,000 to $408,811. The median sale price among the five disclosed transactions was $276,000. With 11 of 16 transfers carrying no recorded consideration amount, the raw count of 16 does not by itself indicate how active the traditional home-sale market was; many of the recorded deeds reflect mortgage-related transfers rather than open-market sales.

TOP SALES The highest-priced transaction was 193 Royalston Rd., which sold for $408,811 on June 22. The sellers were Seth and Kelly Kelley; the buyers were Rocket Mortgage LLC and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc.

10 Memorial Dr. sold for $304,300 on June 22. The sellers were Joseph T. Geyster III and Kristin Geyster; the buyer was United Wholesale Mortgage LLC, with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc.

37 Bacon St. sold for $276,000 on June 26. The seller was Michael LeBlanc; the buyer was Athol Credit Union.

14 Stone Valley Rd. sold for $236,000 on June 24. The sellers were Johnathan and Shannon Lucht; the buyer was Rocket Mortgage LLC, with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc.

415 East Main St. sold for $225,000 on June 24. The sellers were listed as Megan L. Edwards Cloutier and Megan L. Cloutier; the buyer was NewRez LLC, with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc.

The remaining 11 transfers recorded during the period did not disclose a sale price.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN West River Street had three separate transfers during the period -- 239 West River St., 257 West River St. and 414 West River St. -- all with Massachusetts Electric Co. listed as buyer. None of the three disclosed a sale price.

Memorial Drive had two transfers: 10 Memorial Dr., which sold for $304,300, and 31 Memorial Dr., where the seller was Vincent A. and Kathryn R. Cerez and the buyer was Cross River Bank; that transfer did not disclose a price.

Among the five disclosed sale prices, all fell in the $225,000-to-$500,000 range, with none reported above $500,000.

The remaining transfers were spread across individual streets, including Stone Valley Road, East Main Street, Brookside Road, Russ Street, Royalston Road, Cottage Street, New Athol Road, Ellis Drive and Dexter Street, with no additional street-level clustering beyond West River Street and Memorial Drive.

MARKET NOTES Four of the five disclosed-price transactions listed a mortgage company, loan servicer or credit union as the buyer -- Rocket Mortgage LLC (two transactions), NewRez LLC, United Wholesale Mortgage LLC and Athol Credit Union -- each paired in most cases with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. as a co-grantee. Several of the undisclosed-price transfers followed the same pattern, including 31 Memorial Dr. to Cross River Bank and 21 Dexter St., where Freedom Mortgage Corp. transferred the property to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

One transfer, 24 Russ St., ran in the opposite direction: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., acting through an attorney, and Select Portfolio Servicing Inc., also acting through an attorney, transferred the property to David Christopher Simpson and Kimberly Simpson. No sale price was disclosed.

One transfer at 241 Brookside Rd. moved between individuals sharing the Sears surname, from Jennifer Lynn Sears to Jennifer Lynn Sears and Adam J. Sears; no sale price was disclosed for that transfer.

No bedroom, bathroom or square-footage data was available in the deed records for any property, so no price-per-square-foot comparisons could be calculated. Deed records also did not specify property type, so no single-family, condominium or multi-family breakdown could be determined.

Recorded Deeds

Source: Registry of Deeds. Sale amounts shown as recorded; transfers without a disclosed consideration are noted as such.

Jun 22 - Jun 28

Compiled from official town feeds, community organizations, and local press. Outside reporting is attributed inline.