Hamilton home sale median holds near $750,000 while seminary site fetches $36.4 million

HAMILTON -- Fourteen property transfers were recorded in Hamilton between Aug. 28 and Sept. 26, ranging from a $400,000 building lot sale to a $36.4 million sale of a former Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary property, according to Essex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds records.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The registry recorded 14 sales during the period, but only seven carried a sale price at the time of this report; the remaining seven had not yet had consideration amounts posted, which is normal and typically appears within about a week of recording. Among the seven priced sales, prices ranged from $400,000 to $36,400,000, with a median of $750,000. The $36.4 million transaction, a sale of seminary-owned land on Essex Street to a limited liability company, is a significant outlier that pulls the top of the range far above every other recorded sale; excluding it, priced transactions clustered between $400,000 and $1,175,000. Fourteen recorded deeds over a four-week span, spread across single-family streets and several condominium developments, is the raw count for the period; there is no prior-period data here for comparison.

TOP SALES

The month's largest transaction by far was 130 Essex St, Lots A and B, which sold for $36.4 million. The seller was Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary Inc. and the buyer was 212 Bridge St LLC, according to the deed.

The next-highest sale was 8 Patton Ridge Rd, which sold for $1,175,000. John H. Carroll sold the property to the Heath Smith Family Trust.

At 40 Orchard Rd, Lot 8, the property sold for $900,000. Jeffrey M. McKee sold to Richard Stafford.

At 22 Ortins Rd, Lot 5, the sale price was $750,000, with Evan Lawler selling to Jeffrey R. Rusconi II.

Rounding out the top five, 47 Sharon Rd, Lot 4, sold for $725,000. Paul R. Joly sold the unit to Nicole Anderson.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN

Essex Street saw two recorded transfers during the period: the $36.4 million sale at 130 Essex St and a sale at 504 Essex St, Lot 7, for which a price had not yet been posted. No other street had more than one recorded sale in this dataset.

By price tier among the seven sales with recorded prices: one sale fell under $500,000 (21 & 21R Beech St, $400,000); four fell between $500,000 and $1 million (229 Highland St, 47 Sharon Rd Lot 4, 22 Ortins Rd Lot 5, and 40 Orchard Rd Lot 8); one fell between $1 million and $2 million (8 Patton Ridge Rd, $1,175,000); and one exceeded $2 million by a wide margin (130 Essex St, $36.4 million).

MARKET NOTES

Nine of the 14 recorded transfers involved a lot or unit number rather than a standalone address, indicating the sales at 529 Bay Rd, 55 Fox Run Rd, 42 Forest St, 47 Sharon Rd, 504 Essex St, 22 Ortins Rd, 40 Orchard Rd, 130 Essex St and 37 Junction Ln were condominium or subdivided-unit transactions rather than standalone single-family sales.

Seven of the 14 transfers, exactly half, moved property between parties sharing the same or a related family name, or into a trust bearing that family's name: 529 Bay Rd (Chase to Chase, trustee), 286 Moulton St (Woodberry to Woodberry), 55 Fox Run Rd (Becker to Becker Living Trust), 42 Forest St (Leikauskas to Leikauskas, trustee), 504 Essex St (Viader to Viader Living Trust), 122 Railroad Ave (Fanning Family Irrevocable Trust to Fanning, trustee), and 37 Junction Ln (Bilello to Bilello). None of those seven had a sale price posted at the time of this report. Beds, baths and square footage are not available from deed records and are not included in this roundup.

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.