Gloucester August Home Sales Show Wide Price Spread, Median At $549,000

GLOUCESTER -- Fourteen property transfers were recorded in Gloucester between July 31 and Aug. 29, according to Essex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds filings. Nine of those transactions disclosed a sale price, ranging from $305,000 to $1,650,000, with a median of $549,000.

MARKET OVERVIEW The registry recorded 14 total transfers during the period, but only nine included a disclosed consideration amount; the remaining five were transfers where no sale price was listed, several of them involving a property moving from an individual owner into a trust bearing the same name. Among the nine sales with disclosed prices, the median was $549,000, and prices spanned from $305,000 at 445 Western Ave to $1,650,000 at 31 Dennison St. With five of 14 filings lacking price data, the raw sales count alone does not fully capture market activity for the period; a more complete picture will depend on future filings that disclose consideration.

TOP SALES The highest-priced transaction was 31 Dennison St, which sold for $1,650,000 on Aug. 26. Seller Paul P. Regensburg transferred the property to the Christina N. Massey Living Trust. The second-highest sale was 16-18 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 9 & 10, which sold for $1,130,000 on Aug. 24; James Cannon Boyce sold the property to Paris A. Boyce, trustee. At 3 Highland Ct, John J. Naves, trustee, sold the property to Allison Muise Barry for $700,000 on Aug. 28. At 15 Shepard St, Philip M. Curcuru sold to Libin Wu for $595,000 on Aug. 27. Rounding out the top five, 130 Centennial Ave sold for $549,000 on Aug. 28, with Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB, trustee, as seller and Rachel A. Defillippis as buyer.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Two streets saw more than one recorded transfer during the period. Ships Bell Road had two filings: the $1,130,000 sale at 16-18 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 9 & 10, and a transfer at 9 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 2, from Margaret A. Hollender to Margaret A. Hollender, trustee, with no price disclosed. East Main Street also had two filings: 42 E Main St, Lot A, sold for $505,000 on Aug. 25, with Opendoor Property J LLC as seller and Patricia A. Morris as buyer, while 125 E Main St transferred from Kathleen McLoughlin to McGlo LLC with no price disclosed.

Among the nine disclosed-price sales, three fell under $500,000: 445 Western Ave ($305,000), 89 Friend St ($375,000) and 36 Warner St ($479,000). Four fell in the $500,000-to-$1 million range: 42 E Main St, Lot A ($505,000), 130 Centennial Ave ($549,000), 15 Shepard St ($595,000) and 3 Highland Ct ($700,000). Two sales exceeded $1 million: 16-18 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 9 & 10 ($1,130,000) and 31 Dennison St ($1,650,000).

MARKET NOTES Five of the 14 recorded transfers, more than a third of the period's filings, moved a property from an individual owner directly into a trust carrying that same person's name: 1 & 1A Mayflower Ln (Danuta Chilinska to Danuta Chilinska, trustee); 22 Wyoma Rd, Lot D (John W. Philbin to the John W. Philbin Trust Agreement); 9 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 2 (Margaret A. Hollender to Margaret A. Hollender, trustee); and 527 Essex Ave, Lot 2 (Pamela F. Basso to Pamela F. Basso, trustee). None of these four listed a sale price. A fifth, 16-18 Ships Bell Rd, Lot 9 & 10, transferred between two people sharing the Boyce surname and did carry a disclosed price of $1,130,000.

Two of the disclosed-price sales involved institutional or corporate sellers rather than individuals: Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB, as trustee, sold both 130 Centennial Ave ($549,000) and 445 Western Ave ($305,000), and Opendoor Property J LLC sold 42 E Main St, Lot A ($505,000). Several addresses in the period, including Lot D, Lot 2, Lot A, and Lot 9 & 10 designations, indicate subdivided or multi-unit parcels rather than standalone single-family lots; the deed data does not specify property type, bedrooms, bathrooms or square footage, so no per-square-foot comparisons can 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.