Princeton Home Prices Range Widely As Few Sellers Disclose Sale Amounts

PRINCETON -- Worcester County Registry of Deeds records show nine property transfers recorded in Princeton between July 31 and August 29, but only two carried a disclosed sale price, ranging from $100,000 to $720,000. The rest of the month's activity was dominated by trust transfers, a bank-related sale and a conservation transaction, none of which listed a consideration amount.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Nine deeds were recorded for Princeton properties during the period. Of those, two disclosed a sale price: $100,000 and $720,000, producing a median of $410,000 based on the two disclosed figures. Because seven of the nine transactions did not include a stated price, the median and price range describe only a small fraction of the month's activity and should not be read as representative of the full data set. The overall count of nine recorded deeds indicates a period of ordinary transaction volume for a town the size of Princeton, though the scarcity of price data limits any broader read on market direction.

TOP SALES

The highest-priced transaction was 299 Sterling Rd, which sold for $720,000 on Aug. 11. The sellers were Robert L. Fraser Jr. and Kathleen K. Fraser; the buyers were David K. Gruber and Jezanna Lynn Gruber. Bed, bath and square-footage figures were not available from the deed record.

The only other transaction with a disclosed price was 136 Hubbardston Rd, which sold for $100,000 on Aug. 10. The seller was Barry Nicoll and the buyer was Avidia Bank. No other deed information, including property size, was available.

The remaining seven recorded transfers, at 92 Gleason Rd, 40 Boylston Ave, 25 Houghton Rd, 305 Redemption Rock Trail, 17 Boylston Ave, 28 Merriam Rd and an unaddressed Princeton parcel, did not include a sale price and cannot be ranked against the two disclosed sales above.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN

Boylston Avenue saw two recorded transfers in the period: 17 Boylston Ave, sold Aug. 4 by seller Christopher Champagne, and 40 Boylston Ave, sold Aug. 11 by sellers Lucile E. Daly Tr. and Thomas R. Daly Tr. Neither deed disclosed a price. No other street had more than one recorded transfer during the period.

Of the two sales with disclosed prices, one falls under $500,000 (136 Hubbardston Rd, $100,000) and one falls over $500,000 (299 Sterling Rd, $720,000). The remaining seven properties, spread across Gleason Road, Houghton Road, Redemption Rock Trail, Merriam Road and Boylston Avenue, cannot be placed into a price tier because no consideration amount was recorded.

MARKET NOTES

Price disclosure was limited this period: only two of nine recorded deeds, about 22%, included a stated sale price. Several transfers involved family trusts. Lucile E. Daly and Thomas R. Daly conveyed an unaddressed Princeton property to themselves as trustees on Aug. 11, and a trust bearing their names also appears as seller of record for 40 Boylston Ave the same day. Christopher A. Alsdorf and Joyce L. Alsdorf, as trustees, are listed as sellers of 92 Gleason Rd, and Russell H. Mason, as trustee, along with Brown House Realty Trust, is listed as seller of 28 Merriam Rd. None of these deeds disclosed a buyer or price.

Two transfers involved financial or institutional parties rather than a typical buyer-seller pair. The Hubbardston Road sale listed Avidia Bank as buyer, and a separate deed for 25 Houghton Rd listed Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. and Washington Trust Mortgage Co. LLC as sellers, with no buyer or price recorded. A deed for 305 Redemption Rock Trail listed NEADS Inc. and Princeton Town Conservation as sellers, also without a disclosed buyer or price. Deed records do not include beds, baths, square footage or property type, so no comparison of home size or property category is possible from this data set.

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.