Banks Appear as Buyers in Most of October's Priced Belchertown Home Sales

BELCHERTOWN -- Seven of the eight Belchertown property transfers that carried a recorded sale price in October listed a bank or credit union as the buyer, leaving just one transaction between two individuals among the month's priced sales, according to deed data from the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds.

MARKET OVERVIEW The registry recorded 18 transactions affecting Belchertown properties between Oct. 2 and Oct. 31. Only eight of those carried a disclosed sale price at the time of recording; the remainder show price not yet available, a nominal-consideration transfer, or are non-sale filings such as a license and a certificate of compliance. Among the eight priced transfers, prices ranged from $60,000 to $580,000, with a median of $155,000. Judged on raw count alone, 18 recorded documents is a moderate volume for the month, but the composition is notable: most of the priced transfers, and several of the price-pending ones, involve a bank or credit union as either the buyer or the seller rather than a conventional owner-to-owner sale.

TOP SALES 119 Franklin St. recorded the month's highest price at $580,000. David N. and Sharon A. Strange were the sellers; Polish National Credit Union is listed as the buyer. 109 Chauncey Walker St. sold for $376,800. Jeffrey A. and Linda Cristina were the sellers; Country Bank for Savings is listed as the buyer. 36 Bardwell St. sold for $248,136. Michael N. and Michelle Roy were the sellers; Country Bank for Savings is listed as the buyer. 485 South St. sold for $200,000. Eduardo J. and Vicky A. Santos were the sellers; Traders Trust Co. and T Bank are listed as buyers. 21 Stebbins St. sold for $110,000. Joanna Rae Gassnola and Joanna Redmond were the sellers; Polish National Credit Union is listed as the buyer. Beds, baths and square footage are not available from deed records for any of these properties.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN No street recorded more than one price-bearing transfer in October, so there is no street-level clustering this month. By price tier among the eight sales with recorded prices: four fell under $150,000, including 31 Channel Dr. at $60,000, 38 Maplecrest Dr. at $100,000, a Belchertown transfer with no listed street address at $100,000 (Teri Jones to Mary Brigid Johnson), and 21 Stebbins St. at $110,000. Two fell between $150,000 and $300,000: 485 South St. at $200,000 and 36 Bardwell St. at $248,136. Two exceeded $300,000: 109 Chauncey Walker St. at $376,800 and 119 Franklin St. at $580,000.

MARKET NOTES Seven of the eight priced transfers list a bank or credit union, Country Bank for Savings, TD Bank NA, Polish National Credit Union, Traders Trust Co./T Bank, or Greenfield Savings Bank, as the buyer, with an individual as the seller. The lone exception is the $100,000 transfer with no listed street address, which shows two individuals on both sides. Separately, banks and credit unions appear as the seller on four October filings still awaiting price data: 161 Federal St. Unit 6, 435 Amherst Rd., 152 Sargent St. and 6 River St. The dataset also includes several non-sale entries that should not be read as home sales: a dock-construction license at 241 East St., a certificate of compliance at 54 Dressel Ave., a nominal-consideration transfer at 74 Pine St. between Lois Frances Judkins and Sean L. Judkins and Erin M. Kessler, a same-named trust-to-trust filing at 103 Turkey Hill Rd. involving Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB and Verus Securitization Trust on both sides, a mortgage-servicing transfer at 131 Barton Ave. between Rocket Mortgage LLC/Nationstar Mortgage LLC and Cypress Loan Servicing LLC, and a filing at 271 Aldrich St. naming GoodLeap LLC as the recipient. 161 Federal St. Unit 6 is the only condominium unit identified among October's filings; deed data does not otherwise indicate property type for the remaining addresses.

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.