Petersham Home Prices Swing Widely As Most Sales Go Undisclosed

PETERSHAM -- Thirteen properties changed hands in Petersham between Aug. 14 and Sept. 12, but only three of those deeds disclosed a sale price, ranging from $1,563 to $249,000. Financial institutions, including several banks and credit unions, were named as a party of record in at least eight of the 13 transactions.

MARKET OVERVIEW Thirteen deeds were recorded in the four-week period. Of those, three disclosed a sale price: $1,563, $100,000 and $249,000, producing a median of $100,000. Because only three of 13 deeds included a price, that median reflects a small subset of the period's activity rather than the full market. Judged by raw count alone, 13 recorded deeds in four weeks represents a substantial volume of paperwork for the town, though the frequent presence of banks and credit unions as sellers or buyers suggests many of these transfers were not conventional owner-to-owner sales.

TOP SALES The highest-priced disclosed sale was 41 East St., which sold for $249,000 on Sept. 2. Linda S. Kenney was the seller; Cornerstone Bank was the buyer. 73 Old East St. sold for $100,000 on Aug. 17. Alexander Ufema III and Miah M. Ufema were the sellers; Millbury National Bank was the buyer. 1 Old Barre Rd. sold for $1,563 on Aug. 17. Jaice Leveille was the seller; LVNV Funding LLC was the buyer. The remaining 10 transactions recorded in the period did not disclose a sale price.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN West Street had two recorded transfers: 35 West St. (Sept. 11) and 32 West St. (Sept. 10). Both are listed with price not disclosed. Old East Street also had two transfers: 80 Old East St. (Sept. 1, price not disclosed) and 73 Old East St. ($100,000, Aug. 17). Monson Turnpike Road, recorded under two spellings in the deed data, had two transfers: 61 Monson Tpk Rd. (Aug. 27) and 63 Monson Turnpike Rd. (Aug. 20), both price not disclosed. The remaining seven deeds were single transfers, on Hardwick Road, Camel Hump Road, Choate Drive, Glen Valley Road and Old Barre Road, plus one deed recorded without a specific street address in Petersham.

MARKET NOTES Ten of the 13 deeds recorded in this period did not disclose a sale price, which limits what can be said about overall property values for the month based on the three prices available. A bank, credit union or related financial entity, including Cornerstone Bank, Millbury National Bank, GFA Federal Credit Union, IC Federal Credit Union, Digital Federal Credit Union, Fifth Third Bank NA and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., appears as a named party in eight of the 13 deeds. One transfer listed two individuals as trustees, Brian T. Szyndlar Tr. and Suzanne E. Szyndlar Tr., as sellers, with the buyer recorded only as "Recreation." Deed records for this period do not include property type, bedroom or bathroom counts, or square footage, so no comparison of housing stock is possible from this data.

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.