Foreclosure Deeds Outnumber Conventional Home Sales In Chesterfield's July Deed Recordings

CHESTERFIELD -- Eleven deed transactions were recorded for Chesterfield properties in July, but only four disclosed a sale price, and a review of the buyer and seller names shows most of the month's recordings were foreclosure transfers, bank resales or legal filings rather than conventional open-market home sales.

MARKET OVERVIEW The Hampshire County Registry of Deeds recorded 11 transactions tied to Chesterfield addresses between July 3 and Aug. 1. Four of those transactions disclosed a sale price, ranging from $25,000 to $160,000, with a median of $61,500 among the four. The remaining seven carried no disclosed price and, in most cases, were not standard sales at all: two were declarations of homestead, one was a transfer into a family trust, one was an affidavit regarding estate tax, and one was an agricultural or horticultural land tax lien recording. Because a majority of the period's recordings do not represent arm's-length residential sales, the raw count of 11 overstates the volume of typical home-buying activity in Chesterfield this period.

TOP SALES The four transactions with disclosed prices all named a bank or credit union as the buyer, a pattern consistent with foreclosure deeds rather than owner-to-owner sales.

59 Cummington Rd sold for $160,000, recorded July 20, with Jesse T. and Jessica L. McMillan named as sellers and Freedom Credit Union as buyer.

92 South St sold for $98,000, recorded July 29, with Laura Noel and Joshua M. Noel as sellers and Polish National Credit Union as buyer.

48 Mount Rd sold for $25,000, recorded July 20, with Robert J. and Sarah A. Germain as sellers and Greenfield Savings Bank as buyer.

8 Antin Rd sold for $25,000, recorded July 6, with Deborah Ginger Dubois as seller and Greenfield Savings Bank as buyer.

No transaction with a disclosed price involved a sale from one private individual to another.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN The 11 recordings were spread across 11 different streets -- South Street, Main Road, Cummington Road, Mount Road, Ireland Street, East Street, Old Chesterfield Road, Antin Road, Damon Pond Road, Indian Hollow Road and Munson Road -- with no street accounting for more than one transaction. By price tier among the four disclosed sales: two fell under $50,000 (Mount Road and Antin Road, both $25,000), one fell in the $50,000-$150,000 range (South Street at $98,000), and one exceeded $150,000 (Cummington Road at $160,000). The other seven recordings carried no price for comparison.

MARKET NOTES Bed, bath and square-footage figures are not available from deed records, so no price-per-square-foot comparison can be made, and the data does not indicate whether properties were single-family, condominium or multi-family.

Four of the 11 recordings -- 92 South St, 59 Cummington Rd, 48 Mount Rd and 8 Antin Rd -- named a bank or credit union as buyer, consistent with foreclosure deeds transferring title from homeowners to lenders.

Two recordings show the reverse pattern: an institutional seller transferring to individual buyers. Robert J. Westgate and Robert Westgate acquired 159 East St from BankESB, and Timothy J. and Charlotte M. Dugan acquired 43 Munson Rd from JPMorgan Chase Bank NA. Neither transaction disclosed a price.

One recording, 195 Ireland St, was a transfer from John D. and Diane A. Cennamo to a trust in their own names, consistent with a within-family estate-planning transfer rather than a sale. Two others -- 271 Main Rd and 92 Old Chesterfield Rd -- were declarations of homestead, a legal filing that protects a property from certain creditors and does not represent a change of ownership. One recording, tied to 53 Damon Pond Rd, was an affidavit regarding estate tax filed by a personal representative of an estate. Another, tied to 25 Indian Hollow Rd, was an agricultural or horticultural land tax lien filed against the property by the Chesterfield Town Assessors.

Taken together, only four of the 11 recordings this period disclosed a sale price, and all four involved a bank or credit union as buyer rather than an individual purchaser.

Recorded Deeds

Source: Registry of Deeds. Sale amounts shown as recorded; transfers without a disclosed consideration are noted as such.

Jun 29 - Jul 5

Jul 6 - Jul 12

Jul 13 - Jul 19

Jul 20 - Jul 26

Jul 27 - Aug 2

Compiled from official town feeds, community organizations, and local press. Outside reporting is attributed inline.