West Newbury Home Prices Cluster Near $1 Million in Late-Summer Sales

WEST NEWBURY -- Essex County Registry of Deeds records show 12 property transfers in West Newbury between Aug. 21 and Sept. 19, with the three sales carrying a recorded price so far ranging from $975,000 to $1,150,000.

MARKET OVERVIEW Twelve deeds were recorded in West Newbury during the period. Of those, three carry a sale price in registry data as of this reporting: $975,000, $1,025,000 and $1,150,000, for a median of $1,025,000. The remaining nine transfers do not yet show a consideration amount; sale prices typically post to the registry within about a week of recording, so those figures may still appear. Twelve recorded deeds over four weeks is a typical volume for a town of West Newbury's size, though the price picture for the period remains incomplete until the outstanding considerations are recorded.

TOP SALES 24 Moody Lane, Unit 24ML, sold for $1,150,000 on Sept. 15. George H. Ellison Jr. was the seller and Eugene E. Ellison the buyer.

13 Meetinghouse Hill Road, Lot 1B, sold for $1,025,000 on Aug. 26. Craig S. Stearns, trustee, was the seller and Brian D. Kelly, trustee, the buyer.

555 Main Street, Lot 1, sold for $975,000 on Aug. 24. Timothy Kelleher, trustee, was the seller and Alicia Thompson Churchill the buyer.

The other nine transfers recorded in the period do not yet show a sale price and are not ranked here.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Main Street accounted for three of the 12 transfers: 314-316 Main St. (Sept. 8), 278 Main St. (Sept. 3) and 555 Main St., Lot 1 (Aug. 24, $975,000). No other street had more than one recorded transfer in the period.

Among the three sales with a recorded price, one fell under $1 million ($975,000, 555 Main St.) and two exceeded $1 million ($1,025,000 at 13 Meetinghouse Hill Road and $1,150,000 at 24 Moody Lane). The nine transfers without a posted price cannot yet be sorted into a price tier.

MARKET NOTES Ten of the 12 recorded transfers involved a grantor and grantee sharing a surname, or a single owner transferring property into their own trust: Toomey to Toomey, Gruttadauria to Gruttadauria Family Trust, Jacobs to Jacobs, Jennell to Jennell, Alley to her own trust, Clancey to his own trust, Johnson to Johnson Family Trust, Dixon to his own trust, and Dawson to the Dawson Trust. The Sept. 15 Moody Lane sale, at $1,150,000, was also between two Ellisons but carries a recorded price, unlike the other same-family transfers in the period. The two remaining transfers, the Meetinghouse Hill Road and Main Street sales listed above, were between differently named parties.

Several of the 12 properties are recorded with "Lot" or "Unit" designations, including 46 Coffin St. Lot 1, 52 Bridge St. Lot 5, 13 Meetinghouse Hill Road Lot 1B, 555 Main St. Lot 1, 1 Captain Pierce Drive Lot B and 24 Moody Lane Unit 24ML, indicating a mix of condominium and subdivided-lot properties alongside single-family transfers in the period's deed activity.

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.