Rockport Home Sale Hits $2.5 Million as August Prices Range Widely

ROCKPORT -- Eleven property transfers were recorded in Rockport over a roughly four-week span in late August and early September, according to Essex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds records, with disclosed sale prices ranging from $350,000 to $2.5 million.

MARKET OVERVIEW Registry records show 11 property transfers in Rockport recorded between Aug. 26 and Sept. 4. Only four of the 11 deeds listed a disclosed sale price. Those four ranged from $350,000 for a condominium unit at 45 Broadway to $2.5 million for a lot on Phillips Avenue, with a median of $672,000. The remaining seven transfers did not list a sale price in the deed record, which is common for certain deed types. Six of the 11 transfers involved a buyer and seller sharing the same surname or trust name. Because more than half the recorded transfers were not sales between unrelated parties, the raw count of 11 does not, by itself, indicate how much open-market buying and selling activity occurred in town during the period.

TOP SALES The period's highest-priced transaction was 13 Phillips Ave., Lot 3A, which sold for $2.5 million on Aug. 31. Elizabeth K. Fragola, trustee, sold the property to David H. Pine. 239 Granite St. sold for $875,000 on Aug. 28. The Cynthia E. Kielinen Revocable Living Trust sold the property to Lucy Fales Evans. 9 Jewett St., Unit 9A, sold for $469,000 on Aug. 28. Marita A. Brundage sold the unit to Tina M. Gaetani. 45 Broadway, Unit A, sold for $350,000 on Sept. 1. Robert L. Visnick, trustee, sold the unit to Patrick J. Casey.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Granite Street had two recorded transfers in the period: the $875,000 sale at 239 Granite St. and an undisclosed-price transfer at 172 Granite St., Unit 5, in which Karen Barter transferred the unit to herself. No other street had more than one recorded transfer in this dataset. Among the four sales with disclosed prices, two fell under $500,000 (45 Broadway Unit A at $350,000 and 9 Jewett St. Unit 9A at $469,000), one fell between $500,000 and $1 million (239 Granite St. at $875,000), and one exceeded $1 million (13 Phillips Ave. Lot 3A at $2.5 million). The seven transfers without a disclosed price were spread across Thatcher Road, Rowe Avenue, Gott Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Mount Pleasant Street, Smith Road and Granite Street.

MARKET NOTES Six of the 11 recorded transfers were between a seller and buyer sharing the same surname or trust name: Thatcher Road (Melissa Walz to the Daniel & Melissa Trust), Gott Avenue (Paul Decourcy to the Decourcy Trust), Atlantic Avenue (Nadol B.N.T. to itself), Mount Pleasant Street (30 Mount Pleasant Street Unit Three Realty Trust to itself), Smith Road (Susan J. Rees, trustee, to herself) and 172 Granite St. (Karen Barter to herself). Deed records do not indicate the reason for these transfers. The five remaining transactions, all between apparently unrelated buyers and sellers, accounted for all four of the period's disclosed sale prices; the fifth, at 6 Rowe Ave. Unit 1C (Jacqueline Knapp to Peter B. Curley), did not list a price. Recorded transfers included a mix of condominium units, identified by unit or lot numbers, at Rowe Avenue, Broadway, Mount Pleasant Street, Jewett Street, Phillips Avenue, Smith Road and Granite Street. Bedroom, bathroom and square-footage figures are not available in Essex County deed records and are not reported here.

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.