Granite Street Sales Push Rockport's August Price Range Toward $975,000

ROCKPORT -- Fourteen properties changed hands in Rockport over the past month, with four of those transactions on Granite Street alone. The top sale, a $975,000 condominium unit on High Street, led a month in which more than a third of recorded deeds were transfers within the same family or into a trust rather than open-market sales.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The Essex County Registry of Deeds recorded 14 property transfers in Rockport between July 31 and Aug. 29. Of those, eight listed a sale price, ranging from $419,300 to $975,000, with a median of $575,000. The other six deeds, all transfers between a person and their own trust or between family members, did not disclose a price. Fourteen recorded transfers is a moderate volume for a single month, though with fewer than 60% of deeds reporting a price, the disclosed figures reflect only part of the month's activity.

TOP SALES

The month's highest-priced sale was 59 High St., Unit 2, which sold for $975,000 on Aug. 20. Marc E. Bourassa sold the unit to the Jane H. Ernstoff Trust-2014. The second-highest sale was 239 Granite St., which sold for $875,000 on Aug. 28; the Cynthia E. Kielinen Revocable Living Trust sold the property to Lucy Fales Evans. At 184 Granite St., Lot A, Brian Rano sold to Volker Schulmeyer for $831,000 on Aug. 18. Rounding out the top sales, 20 Main St., Unit 11, sold for $585,000 on Aug. 25 (William Andrew Getsey, trustee, to Maryann Dennehy), and 6 Parker St., Lot A, sold for $565,000 on Aug. 21 (Appleton Grove LLC to John Silveira).

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN

Granite Street was the month's most active street, with four recorded deeds: 239 Granite St. ($875,000), 184 Granite St., Lot A ($831,000), 172 Granite St., Unit 5 (price not disclosed, a transfer by Karen Barter to herself), and 40 Granite St., Lot 2 (price not disclosed, Evelyn Y. Addante to Evelyn Y. Addante, trustee). Main Street had two recorded deeds: 20 Main St., Unit 11 ($585,000) and 176 Main St., Unit A ($419,300). By price tier among the eight disclosed sales, one topped $900,000 (59 High St.), two fell between $800,000 and $875,000 (both on Granite Street), and the remaining five ranged from $419,300 to $585,000.

MARKET NOTES

Six of the 14 recorded deeds, 43% of the month's activity, were transfers in which the seller and buyer share the same name or family surname, or in which a property moved into a trust: 3 Smith Rd., Lot 3 (Susan J. Rees to Susan J. Rees, trustee); 172 Granite St., Unit 5 (Karen Barter to Karen Barter); 40 Granite St., Lot 2 (Evelyn Y. Addante to Evelyn Y. Addante, trustee); 24 School St. (Deepankar Ayyagari to Deepankar Ayyagari, trustee); 24 Pleasant St. (Mary J. Peterman to Charles J. Peterman III); and 24 Marmion Way, Lot C (Jeffrey Browning, representative, to Jeffrey Browning, trustee). None of these six deeds disclosed a sale price, while all eight of the month's arms-length sales did report a price. Address records show at least five of the 14 properties are condominium units, based on "Unit" designations in the deed: 9 Jewett St., Unit 9A; 172 Granite St., Unit 5; 20 Main St., Unit 11; 59 High St., Unit 2; and 176 Main St., Unit A.

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.