Essex Home Prices Range Widely as Trust Transfers Mask Half of Sales

ESSEX -- Fifteen deeds recorded in Essex between July 17 and Aug. 15, with disclosed sale prices spanning $579,000 to $1,750,000. Nearly half the recorded transfers listed no sale price, several of them appearing to move property from an individual owner to a trust bearing the same name.

MARKET OVERVIEW The Essex County Southern District Registry of Deeds recorded 15 property transfers in Essex during the period. Eight of those transfers disclosed a sale price, ranging from $579,000 to $1,750,000, with a median of $1,145,000 among the disclosed sales. The remaining seven transfers listed no consideration amount, a pattern common to trust, estate and internal-entity transfers rather than open-market sales. Fifteen recorded transfers in a four-week span is a comparatively high count for the town based on volume alone, though nearly half of those transfers carried no disclosed price.

TOP SALES The highest-priced recorded sale was 45 Lufkin Point Rd Lot 4, which sold for $1,750,000 on Aug. 3. Michael P. Ross sold the property to Richard Greenblatt. At 149 Western Ave, Thomas P. Canillas sold to 149 Western Ave LLC for $1,650,000 on Aug. 6. A unit at 199R John Wise Ave Lot 4 sold for $1,515,650 on Aug. 4, with Western Mass LLC selling to Carl Hager. At 17 Addison St, Corey P. Jackson sold to Logan Sena for $1,465,000 on Aug. 10. Rounding out the top five, Antonio Arthur Bevilacqua Jr. sold 40 Main St to 153 Twin Peaks LLC for $825,000 on July 24.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Four streets recorded more than one transfer during the period. Western Avenue had two: the $1,650,000 sale at 149 Western Ave and an undisclosed-price transfer at 7 Western Ave from Constance D. Vallis to a trust in her name. Main Street also had two, both with disclosed prices: 7 Main St Lot 1 sold for $820,300 and 40 Main St sold for $825,000. John Wise Avenue had two transfers at the same Lot 4 address, one disclosed at $1,515,650 and one undisclosed, both originating with seller Western Mass LLC. Forest Avenue had two: an undisclosed trust transfer at 27 Forest Ave Lot 1 and a $579,000 sale at 18 Forest Ave, the period's lowest disclosed price. Among the eight disclosed sales, four fell between $500,000 and $1 million (18 Forest Ave, 32 Eastern Ave, 7 Main St Lot 1 and 40 Main St) and four exceeded $1 million (17 Addison St, 149 Western Ave, 199R John Wise Ave Lot 4 and 45 Lufkin Point Rd Lot 4).

MARKET NOTES Six of the 15 recorded transfers, 40% of the period's total, involved a seller conveying property to a trust or entity bearing their own name: 24 Choate St (Patricia McCarthy to Patricia A. McCarthy TR), 7 Western Ave (Constance D. Vallis to Constance D. Vallis TR), 27 Forest Ave Lot 1 (Laurie L. Hunt to Laurie L. Hunt TR), 6 Patriots Landing Un 10 (Meaghan L. Bonner to Meaghan L. Bonner TR), 28 Pickering St (Patricia A. Fitzgerald to the Patricia A. Fitzgerald Living Trust) and 199R John Wise Ave Lot 4 (Western Mass LLC to itself). None of these six transfers disclosed a sale price. Limited liability companies appeared on both sides of several transactions, including 149 Western Ave LLC and 153 Twin Peaks LLC as buyers and Western Mass LLC as a seller in two separate Lot 4 transfers. Beds, baths and square footage were not available in the deed data for any property in 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.