Median Sale Price Holds at $450,000 as Four Deals Top $1 Million

NEW BEDFORD -- The New Bedford District Registry of Deeds recorded 148 property transfers between July 10 and Aug. 8, with disclosed prices ranging from $60,000 to $6.7 million and a median of $450,000.

MARKET OVERVIEW The registry logged 148 transactions in the four-week period. Of those, 79 included a disclosed sale price, and the median among that group was $450,000. Prices ranged from $60,000 for 75 Duke St., sold July 7 [Aug. 7], to $6.7 million each for two adjoining properties on Cove Street. The remaining 69 filings, nearly half the total, carried no disclosed price, a pattern common in deed records that mix open-market sales with family transfers, trust conveyances and municipal actions. The raw count of 148 recorded filings in a single four-week window reflects a high volume of registry activity in the city; the data does not support a comparison to prior months or to statewide figures.

TOP SALES The period's highest-priced transactions were a pair of adjoining sales on Cove Street. WOOBNB LLC sold both 81 Cove St. and 91 Cove St. to MHC 390 New Bedford MA LLC on July 23, each for $6.7 million. The third-highest sale was 25 Homers Wharf, which sold for $2 million on July 31; NOR-J Trust sold the property to RMFP25 LLC. 503-507 No. Front St. sold for $1.43 million on July 31, with JCS Realty LLC selling to DAV Properties LLC. 72-74 Spring St. sold for $710,000 on July 17; Eric O. Aguiar, trustee, sold the property to Nativity Preparatory School New Bedford Inc. 491 No. Front St. sold for $672,000 on July 22, with Gary D. Gagne Jr. selling to Rose Landa Solon.

NEIGHBORHOOD BREAKDOWN By price tier among the 79 disclosed sales, 48, or 61%, sold for under $500,000. Twenty-seven sales, or 34%, fell between $500,000 and $1 million. Four sales topped $1 million: the two Cove Street properties, 25 Homers Wharf and 503-507 No. Front St. Several streets recorded multiple transactions. Bolton Street had four sales (198, 210, 385 and 504 Bolton St.), though only 198 Bolton St., at $450,000, disclosed a price. Grinnell Street had three sales, including 156 Grinnell St. at $570,000 and 195 Grinnell St. at $480,000. No. Front Street had two sales: 503-507 No. Front St. at $1.43 million, one of only four sales above $1 million in the period, and 491 No. Front St. at $672,000. Coffin Avenue saw three transfers, all to the city of New Bedford or the New Bedford Redevelopment Authority, none with a disclosed price.

MARKET NOTES A cluster of 15 parcels, on streets including Ashley, Cox, Delano, Hillman, Manomet, Purchase, Ruth, Union, Washburn and Weld, transferred from the New Bedford City Treasurer to the New Bedford Redevelopment Authority on July 14. None disclosed a price; these transfers, together with three additional Coffin Avenue parcels that went to the city or the Redevelopment Authority, account for a meaningful share of the period's undisclosed-price total and are municipal actions rather than open-market sales. At least 18 other transfers listed the same individual, often adding a trustee designation, as both grantor and grantee, another factor behind the high share of undisclosed prices in the dataset. Two institutional buyers appear among the disclosed-price sales. Nativity Preparatory School New Bedford Inc. bought 72-74 Spring St. for $710,000 on July 17 and, the same day, sold 108 School St. for $375,000. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Fall River sold 283 Mill St. to Evangelical Church of Jesus Christ Inc. for $540,000, also on July 17. Several sales involved addresses spanning multiple street numbers, including 305-309 Rivet St., 503-507 No. Front St., 81-83 Willard St. and 745-747 Kempton St., which typically denote multi-family buildings; unit counts and square footage are not available from deed records.

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.