Six Disclosed Montague Sales Span $25,500 to $400,000 in July

MONTAGUE -- Thirteen property transfers were recorded at the Franklin County Registry of Deeds for Montague between July 17 and August 15, with disclosed sale prices ranging from $25,500 to $400,000 and banks or credit unions appearing as either buyer or seller in nine of the 13 transactions.

MARKET OVERVIEW Of the 13 recorded deeds, six included a disclosed sale price and seven did not. Among the six disclosed sales, prices ranged from $25,500 to $400,000, with a median of $90,000. The raw count of 13 recorded transfers over the four-week period reflects a mix of transaction types, including several deeds where the buyer or seller was a bank, mortgage servicer or credit union rather than an individual homeowner. Because more than half the recorded deeds carried no disclosed price, the $90,000 median reflects only the six sales where a price was reported and should not be read as representative of the full set of 13.

TOP SALES The highest-priced transaction was 9 Taylor Hgt, which sold for $400,000 on July 21. The sellers were Debra A. Berigow and Tom Schuyt; the buyer was Greenfield Cooperative Bank. The second-highest was 68 Old Stage Rd, which sold for $125,000 on July 20; sellers Nicole R. Thurrell and Adam M. Thurrell transferred the property to Holyoke Credit Union. At 76 High St, the property sold for $100,000 on July 20, with seller Kara E. Hutchison transferring to Greenfield Cooperative Bank. At 23 Unity St, the sale price was $80,000, recorded July 21, with seller Ira Barry Karasick transferring to Greenfield Savings Bank. Rounding out the top five, 131 Dry Hill Rd sold for $60,000 on July 20; the seller was listed as M.L. Magrath, trustee, and the M.L. Magrath Living Trust, with Greenfield Cooperative Bank as buyer. Bed, bath and square footage figures were not available in the deed data for any of these properties.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN No street in this period had more than one recorded sale, so no street-level clustering emerged. By price tier among the six disclosed sales: three sold under $100,000 (an unaddressed Montague parcel at $25,500, 131 Dry Hill Rd at $60,000, and 23 Unity St at $80,000); two sold between $100,000 and $200,000 (76 High St and 68 Old Stage Rd); and one sold above $200,000 (9 Taylor Hgt at $400,000). The remaining seven recorded transfers, at 14 Walnut St, 145 Meadow Rd, 22 X St, 70 South Prospect St, 196 Turners Falls Rd, 194 Turnpike Rd and 5 Wrightson Ave, carried no disclosed price.

MARKET NOTES A notable pattern in this period's filings is the frequent presence of financial institutions on one side of the transaction. Of the six sales with a disclosed price, five listed a bank or credit union as the buyer: Greenfield Cooperative Bank (three sales, at 9 Taylor Hgt, 76 High St and 131 Dry Hill Rd), Greenfield Savings Bank (23 Unity St) and Holyoke Credit Union (68 Old Stage Rd). A sixth disclosed sale, the $25,500 unaddressed Montague parcel, listed seller Ian Hamilton and buyers PennyMac Loan Services LLC and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. Separately, three of the price-undisclosed deeds listed a bank or mortgage servicer as the seller: Citibank NA at 14 Walnut St, Bank of America NA (by attorney, with First American Mortgage Solutions LLC as attorney) at 145 Meadow Rd, and PHH Mortgage Corp and Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas, as trustee, at 22 X St. One sale, 131 Dry Hill Rd, involved a living trust as seller. No property-type classification (single-family, condominium or multi-family) was available in the deed data, and no square footage figures were provided for any listing, so no price-per-square-foot comparisons could be made this period.

Recorded Deeds

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

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