Reading Home Prices Hold Above Half-Million as August Median Hits $798,000

READING -- Nineteen properties changed hands in Reading between Aug. 21 and Sept. 19, with recorded sale prices ranging from $511,000 to $1.5 million and a median of $798,000, according to deeds filed with the South Middlesex Registry of Deeds.

MARKET OVERVIEW The registry recorded 19 property transfers in the four-week period. Of those, 13 carry a recorded sale price so far; the remaining six are still awaiting price data, which typically appears at the registry within about a week of recording. Among the 13 priced sales, the low was $511,000 for a unit at 36 Abigail Way and the high was $1.5 million for a unit at 18 Talbot Lane. The median sale price was $798,000. A count of 19 recorded transfers over four weeks reflects a period of ordinary, steady activity; the data does not indicate whether that represents an increase or decrease from prior months.

TOP SALES The month's highest-priced transaction was 18 Talbot Lane, Unit 18, which sold for $1.5 million on Aug. 24. The seller was Johnson Woods Realty Corp; the buyer was the Dambrosio Revocable Trust, with Giovanni Albert Dambrosio as trustee. Second was 10 Grandview Road, which sold for $1.25 million on Sept. 1; David A. and Patricia E. Druid sold to Frank J. Bova and Kelly Ottaviano. Third was 42 Riverside Drive, sold for $1,052,000 on Aug. 27, with the Hart Family Trust, Sarah E. Hart trustee, selling to Kirsten and Ian Maxwell. Rounding out the top five: 24 Baldwin Lane sold for $975,000 on Sept. 1, with Ann M. Hardy selling to Christopher R. Smith and Meaghan Hardy Smith, and 1295 Main Street sold for $950,000 on Sept. 2, with Ahmed Kotb Abdelgalil and Maha Mohsen Nasr Fagelnour selling to Honglu He.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN Main Street saw three separate transfers in the period: 1295 Main Street ($950,000), 531 Main Street Unit 1002 ($715,000) and 1321 Main Street (price not yet available, transferred from Terrence M. and Brendon S. Shaw, as trustees, to Shaw Realty Management LLC). By price tier among the 13 sales with recorded prices, 10 fell between $500,000 and $1 million: 36 Abigail Way Unit 1009 ($511,000), 713 Gazebo Circle Unit 713 ($572,500), 63 Sunnyside Avenue ($575,000), 531 Main Street Unit 1002 ($715,000), 0 Chequessett Road ($760,000), 16 Elm Street ($775,000), 23 Augustus Court Unit 4003 ($798,000), 8 Sanborn Street Unit 4008 ($875,000), 1295 Main Street ($950,000) and 24 Baldwin Lane ($975,000). Three sales topped $1 million: 42 Riverside Drive, 10 Grandview Road and 18 Talbot Lane.

MARKET NOTES Six of the 19 transfers were unit sales in condominium-style buildings or complexes, including properties on Main Street, Sanborn Street, Gazebo Circle, Augustus Court, Abigail Way and Talbot Lane, indicating a mix of single-family and condominium activity in the period. Several transfers appear to involve the same family or individual on both sides of the deed rather than a traditional sale: 27 Virginia Road moved from Ann M. Costanza to the Ann M. Costanza Grantor Trust with Costanza as trustee; 111 Scotland Road moved from Peter D. and Maryellen Salvucci to trusts bearing their own names as trustees; and 26 Elliot Street moved from Lisa Ann Heard and Hossein Zarrineghbal, as trustees, to Lisa Ann Heard individually. A fourth, 73 Wescroft Road, transferred from Marsha E. Avery to James F. DiVito and a life estate retained by Avery. None of these four carry a recorded price. Reading Townbrief is not speculating on the reasons behind these transfers; the pattern is noted here because it is visible in the deed data itself.

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.