Lenox deed prices span wide gap on just two disclosed sales

LENOX -- Middlesex Berkshire Registry of Deeds records show 15 property transactions recorded in Lenox between Aug. 7 and Sept. 5, but only two carried a disclosed sale price, ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.

MARKET OVERVIEW The registry recorded 15 transactions in Lenox during the period. Of those, 13 listed no consideration amount, a common feature of deed data that does not necessarily indicate a low-value or unusual transfer. Among the two transactions with disclosed prices, the range ran from $25,000 to $250,000, with a median of $137,500. Given that only two of 15 recorded transactions carried a disclosed price, the raw count of 15 filings does not by itself indicate how active the sales market was; most of these entries cannot be evaluated on price.

TOP SALES 72 Plunkett St. sold for $250,000, recorded Aug. 12. The sellers were Elaine and Richard Dowgos; the buyer was Greylock Federal Credit Union.

135 Main St. sold for $25,000, recorded Aug. 11. The seller was Main St Lenox LLC; the buyers were Robert S. Cundall and Daniel T. Bross.

No other transactions in the period carried a disclosed sale price, so no further transactions can be ranked by price this month.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Main Street accounted for four of the 15 recorded filings. In addition to the $25,000 sale at 135 Main St. on Aug. 11, three additional filings that day involved 135/141 Main St.: a mortgage from Adams Community Bank to Main St Lenox LLC, an assignment from Adams Community Bank to Main St Lenox LLC, and a mortgage from Granite State Economic Development Corp. to Main St Lenox LLC. All four Main Street filings were recorded within a two-day span, Aug. 11-12.

Aside from the Main Street cluster, the remaining 11 transactions were spread across individual streets, including East Street, Sunset Avenue, Walker Street, Birchwood Lane, Pinecroft Drive, Housatonic Street, Dunmore Court, Lime Kiln Road and Under Mountain Road, with no other street appearing more than once.

By price tier, based on the two disclosed sales: one transaction fell under $500,000 at $25,000, and one fell under $500,000 at $250,000. The remaining 13 transactions have no disclosed price and cannot be placed into a tier.

MARKET NOTES A majority of the period's filings, eight of 15, are identified in the deed description as mortgages, foreclosure-related filings or assignments rather than straightforward property sales: 933 East St., 22 Sunset Ave., 490 Walker St., 83 Birchwood Ln., 302 Housatonic St., and the three additional 135/141 Main St. filings. That distinction is drawn from notations in the registry's own deed descriptions, not from this newspaper's interpretation of the transactions.

At least three of the 15 filings appear to be transfers within the same family or trust rather than a sale to a new outside owner: a transfer at an unlisted Lenox address from "A Coldbrooke South" and Gail L. Silverman, trustee, to Gail L. Silverman, trustee, and the Gail L. Silverman Revocable Trust; a transfer at 6 Pinecroft Dr. between Carol S. Smokler, trustee, and Lois Baru, trustee, listing the same two names as both seller and buyer; and a filing at 27 Under Mountain Rd. listing Hannah P. Keator and Matthew D.M. Keator, both as trustees, as sellers with no buyer listed in the available data. The registry data does not indicate the reason for these transfers, and none should be inferred.

The two disclosed sales this period, $250,000 and $25,000, represent a wide gap with no transactions recorded between them in terms of price. No bed, bath or square-footage figures were available in the deed data for any of the 15 transactions, and no distinction between single-family, condominium or multi-family property types was specified in the records provided.

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.