Belmont's Priciest Sale Reaches $1.8 Million Amid Rising Median Price

BELMONT -- Seventeen property transfers were recorded at the South Middlesex Registry of Deeds for Belmont between Aug. 14 and Sept. 12, with disclosed sale prices ranging from $500,000 to $1,800,000 and a median of $1,455,000.

MARKET OVERVIEW Of the 17 recorded transfers, eight included a disclosed sale price; the remaining nine were recorded without consideration listed, which is common for deed filings involving trusts and estates. Among the eight disclosed sales, prices ranged from $500,000 to $1,800,000, with a median of $1,455,000. Seventeen recorded transfers in a four-week span is a notable volume of activity on its own, though the high share of transfers without a disclosed price, more than half, limits how much can be concluded about pricing trends for the period.

TOP SALES The highest-priced transaction was 65 South Cottage Rd Unit 119, which sold for $1,800,000 on Aug. 26. The seller was the Edward H. Pendergast Revocable Trust; the buyers were John and Marybeth Coughlin. At 1 Hay Rd, Timothy D. and Dawn D. Anderson sold to James McNamara and Paloma Giangrande for $1,660,000 on Aug. 14. The property at 18 Gilmore Rd sold for $1,630,000 on Aug. 21, with Alanna E. Fincke and Jack Muccigrosso as sellers and Mithila Rajagopal and Sundar Jayaraman as buyers. At 23 Trowbridge St Unit 23, Joseph R. Santangelo Jr. and Sherry C. Santangelo sold to buyers listed as Nikhil Bobb and Nisha Bubna, as trustees, for $1,500,000 on Aug. 18. Rounding out the top five, 96 Washington St sold for $1,410,000 on Aug. 26; the sellers were Matthew Malsky and the estate of Elizabeth Z. Malsky, and the buyers were Alex Maria Lawrence and Angus Hector Macquarrie.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Two streets each had two recorded transfers in the period. Lorimer Road saw transfers at 59 Lorimer Rd and 14 Lorimer Rd, both without disclosed prices and both involving an individual owner transferring into a personal trust. Chester Road also had two transfers, both at 35 Chester Rd (Units 1 and 2), with Timothy C. and Alia R. Bucciarelli listed as both sellers and buyers in their capacity as trustees; no price was disclosed for either. By price tier among the eight disclosed sales: two sold under $1 million ($500,000 at 11 Grove St and $775,000 at 23 Pine St Unit 1); three sold between $1 million and $1.5 million ($1,015,000 at 113 White St Unit 1, $1,410,000 at 96 Washington St and $1,500,000 at 23 Trowbridge St Unit 23); and three sold above $1.5 million ($1,630,000 at 18 Gilmore Rd, $1,660,000 at 1 Hay Rd and $1,800,000 at 65 South Cottage Rd Unit 119).

MARKET NOTES Nine of the 17 recorded transfers, more than half, list overlapping or identical names as both grantor and grantee, consistent with owners moving property into a trust or settling an estate rather than a sale to a new party. None of those nine had a disclosed price, which accounts for most of the period's undisclosed transactions. Condominium units made up a notable share of activity, with at least six of the 17 transfers involving a specific unit number, including the period's top sale at 65 South Cottage Rd Unit 119. The lowest disclosed price, $500,000 for 11 Grove St, was also the period's only transfer involving an institutional seller, the Belmont Catholic Charitable Trust Inc., with the buyer listed as VHPC Main Street LLC. Bedroom, bathroom and square-footage figures are not available from deed records and are omitted here.

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.