Sole Disclosed Sale in Williamsburg Deeds Closes at $210,000 in August

WILLIAMSBURG -- Ten property deeds were recorded in Williamsburg over the four weeks ending Aug. 29, but only one carried a disclosed sale price, leaving most of the period's real estate activity undocumented in dollar terms.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The Hampshire County Registry of Deeds recorded 10 Williamsburg transfers between July 31 and Aug. 29. Of those, one listed a sale price: $210,000. Because only one of the 10 transfers disclosed a price, the reported price range ($210,000 to $210,000) and median ($210,000) reflect a single transaction rather than a broad market sample. The raw count of 10 recorded deeds is in line with routine monthly filing activity for a small town, but a review of the underlying records shows most of these filings are not conventional owner-to-buyer purchases (see Market Notes below), which limits any read on pricing trends this period.

TOP SALES

The only transaction with a disclosed price was an unaddressed Williamsburg parcel that sold for $210,000, recorded Aug. 7. The seller was listed as Frances Tilley, individually and as trustee; the buyer was Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc. No other transactions in this period listed a sale price, so no additional properties can be ranked among the period's top sales by price.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN

Valley View Road accounted for two of the 10 transfers: 11 Valley View Rd. and 12 Valley View Rd. were both transferred from Frances Tilley, as trustee, to the town of Williamsburg, both recorded Aug. 7. No sale price was disclosed for either parcel. Those two transfers, along with the $210,000 Massachusetts Audubon Society sale noted above, were all recorded the same day and all involved Frances Tilley or the Frances Tilley trust as seller, three of the period's 10 deeds. No other street had more than one recorded transfer this period: single transactions were recorded at 9 Cider Mill Rd., 4 Petticoat Hill Rd., 2 Deer Haven Dr., 12 Village Hill Ave., 77 Hemenway Rd., 10 North Main St. and 55 Depot Rd. Because only one transfer disclosed a price, a breakdown by price tier is not possible with this dataset.

MARKET NOTES

Four of the 10 recorded transfers, at 9 Cider Mill Rd., 2 Deer Haven Dr., 12 Village Hill Ave. and 77 Hemenway Rd., list "Declaration of Homestead" as the buyer of record. A declaration of homestead is a legal filing that protects a primary residence from certain creditor claims; it is filed by an existing owner and does not represent a transfer of ownership to a new buyer, which is consistent with the absence of a sale price on those records.

Two transfers, at 4 Petticoat Hill Rd. and 10 North Main St., list Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS) as the seller. Deeds involving MERS as grantor are typically associated with a lender-related or foreclosure transfer rather than an owner-to-buyer sale.

One transfer, at 55 Depot Rd., moved the property from Anna M. Loven, as trustee of the Tip Trust, to Anna M. Loven individually, a transfer within the same person's ownership structure rather than to a new party.

The remaining three transfers involving Frances Tilley, as noted above, sent two parcels on Valley View Road to the town of Williamsburg and one parcel to Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc., all recorded the same day.

Deed records for this period do not include property type, bedroom or bathroom counts, or square footage, so no mix of single-family, condominium or multi-family sales can be reported, and no price-per-square-foot comparison is possible.

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.