Foreclosure-Linked Deeds Drive All Five Priced Sales in Williamsburg This Period

WILLIAMSBURG -- Eleven property transfers were recorded at the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds for Williamsburg between Aug. 28 and Sept. 26, but only five carried a recorded sale price, and in every one of those five, the buyer was a bank or mortgage company, a pattern consistent with foreclosure-related transfers rather than conventional purchases.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Of the 11 deeds recorded in the period, five listed a sale price, ranging from $40,000 to $409,000, with a median of $125,268 among those five. The remaining six transactions had no price yet in the registry's data, which is typical and usually means the figure has not been added rather than any withholding by the parties. Eleven recorded transactions over a four-week span is a moderate count for a small town; the data alone does not show whether this marks an increase or decrease from other periods, since no comparison figures were provided.

TOP SALES

The highest-priced transaction was 24 Oneil Rd, which sold for $409,000 on Sept. 18. The seller was listed as Rosalyn Driscoll, trustee, and Lockett A. Wasson; the buyer was Florence Bank. At 121 Petticoat Hill Rd, the property sold for $200,000 on Aug. 28, with William H. Hooper and William H. Hooper, trustee, as sellers and Citizens Bank NA as buyer. The property at 7 Dresser Hill Rd sold for $125,268 on Sept. 9; David Krassler was the seller, and the buyers were listed as Freedom Mortgage Corp. and Dart. At 8 Petticoat Hill Rd, the sale price was $68,000 on Sept. 24, with Alicia M. Smith as seller and Spring EQ LLC together with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. as buyer. The lowest of the priced sales, 125 Goshen Rd, sold for $40,000 on Sept. 17, with Jason Christopher Harder as seller and Greenfield Savings Bank as buyer.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN

Petticoat Hill Road accounted for two of the period's sales, at $68,000 and $200,000. Main Street also had two recorded transfers, at 13 Main St and 183 Main St, though neither has a price on file yet. Goshen Road saw activity as well: 125 Goshen Rd sold for $40,000, while a separate transfer at 96 Old Goshen Rd has no recorded price. By price tier among the five sales with a price, two fell under $100,000 ($40,000 and $68,000), two fell between $100,000 and $250,000 ($125,268 and $200,000), and one exceeded $250,000 ($409,000).

MARKET NOTES

Every transaction with a recorded price in this period listed a bank or mortgage company as the buyer: Florence Bank, Citizens Bank NA, Freedom Mortgage Corp., Greenfield Savings Bank, and Spring EQ LLC with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. That pattern is consistent with foreclosure-related transfers rather than sales to individual buyers. Separately, banks appear as sellers on three of the six transactions still awaiting a recorded price: Florence Bank sold both 96 Old Goshen Rd and 26 Briar Hill Rd, and Greenfield Cooperative Bank sold 13 Main St, indicating previously bank-owned properties moving to private buyers. Two entries in the period's records are not conventional buyer-seller sales: the 63 Adams Rd transfer is recorded as an affidavit regarding estate tax connected to the estate of Pamela J. Goodrow, and the 183 Main St entry is recorded as a certificate of compliance. No bedroom, bathroom or square-footage figures were available for any property in this period's deed data, and the records do not distinguish single-family, condominium or multi-family property types.

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.