Lowell sales for the week of June 24, 2013

It was a busy week at the registry of deeds, especially for sales of property in Lowell:

June 24, 2013 (Monday)

491 Dutton St, Unit 511 for $265,000

361 Hildreth St, Unit 14 for $57,500

3 Florida St for $229,900

72 Fairlawn St for $200,000

165 Ludlam St for $175,000

June 25, 2013 (Tuesday)

59 Starbird St for $180,000

122 Farmland St for $194,130

June 26, 2013 (Wednesday)

74 Washington St for $186,900

349 Pawtucket Blvd, Unit 15 for $85,000

97 Hildreth St, Unit 1 for $152,000

June 27, 2013 (Thursday)

362 Christian St for $225,000

168 Cumberland Rd for $140,000

130 Glenwood St for $390,000

18 Joffre St for $152,000

170-180 Moore St for $360,000

1255 Middlesex St Unit D for $150,000

200 Rogers St Unit 6 for $185,000

June 28, 2013 (Friday)

102 Andrews St for $162,000

5 Devonshire Crossing for $300,000

25 Seventh Ave for $200,000

253-259 Stackpole St for $318,000

105 Agawam St Unit 2 for $80,000

726-728 Lawrence St for $170,000

722 East Merrimack St for $354,000

539 Chelmsford St for $165,000

157 Nesmith St for $118,500 

16 Johnson St for $372,000

Registered Land for the week

1541 Middlesex St Unit 9 for $157,900

246 Moore St for $200,000

The Future of Fannieand Freddie

New York Times columnist and former business writer Joe Nocera has a column about a bipartisan effort in the US Senate to dismantle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which together guarantee 77% of the mortgages in America today.  Nocera explains that the dual nature of these two entities - they are both publicly traded companies that have a strong govenment proponent - has been part of their problem.  He also points out that the new bill does not eliminate government involvement in the mortgage business.  Instead, it replaces the quasi-governmental companies with an express government guarantee of loan losses beyond the first 10%.  The sponsors of this bill, Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, contend that government guarantees are essential to the operation of the home mortgage market and it was best to provide that support in a straightforward, transparent way.  Nocera, however, raises the awkward question of whether the federal government should be subsidizing home ownership in the first place and suggests that rather than trying to replace Fannie and Freddie, the country first needs a discussion on whether our national policy should promote homeownership by everyone.

Electronic recording in May

Although June is nearly at an end, here's a look back at our volume of electronic recording during the month of May.  We recorded from all sources 6137 documents in May; of those, 2392 were recorded electronically.  That equals 39% which is just about the percentage we've been hitting each month during 2013.  The proportion of major document types recorded electronically remains consistent.  There were 667 deeds recorded for the district in May; 193 of them (29%) were recorded electronically.  There were 1263 mortgages recorded; 656 of them (52%) were recorded electronically.  There were 1450 discharges; 806 of them (56%) were recorded electronically.

Lowell sales for week of June 17, 2013

The following properties in Lowell sold this week for the amounts indicated:

June 17, 2013 (Monday)

491 Dutton St Unit 520 for $225,000

52 Lawrence Dr Unit M313 for $174,500

260-262 University Ave for $284,900

25 Juniper St Unit 18 for $192,000

June 18, 2013 (Tuesday)

257 Walker St Unit D for $55,000

140 Winthrop Ave for $263,000

160 Avon St for $235,000

23 11th St for $170,125

517 School St for $239,000

June 19, 2013 (Wednesday)

11 Garden Rd for $415,000

201 Thorndike St Unit 1-14 for $62,000

24 Burnside St for $136,000

49-51 Andrews St for $150,000

12 Jenness St for $115,000

88 Prescott St Unit A-1 for $155,000

June 20, 2013 (Thursday)

2 Morton St for $169,000

353 Pawtucket Blv Unit 4 for $75,000

94 Concord St for $360,000

309 Pawtucket Blv Unit 22 for $89,900

305 Gorham St for $650,000

125 Parker St for $125,000

June 21, 2013 (Friday)

200 Market St Unit 214 for $179,500

351 Pawtucket Blv Unit 25 for $70,000

12 Chester St for $190,000

755 East Merrimack St for $250,000

42 Eighteenth St for $145,000

123 Hampshire St for $100,000

12 Whitney Ave for $180,000

34 Nichols St for $240,000

82 Varney St for $135,000

New housing coming to Gorham St

The long talked-about sale of 305 Gorham Street, a portion of the lot where St. Peter's Church formerly stood, by Cooney Development LLC to the Coalition for a Better Acre was recorded today.  The former rectory of St. Peter's parish will remain as home to Cooney Insurance and several law offices, but the northerly portion of that parcel which is bounded by Father Ronan Terrace and Gorham, Elm and South Streets, will soon be home to a six-story mulifamily building that will contain 24 residential units.  According to a special permit from the Lowell Planning Board, phase two of the development will consist of a second building, this one of 5 stories, with an additional 24 units for a total of 48.  The recorded documents give no indication of when construction will start.

"Sovereign citizen" sentenced in tax fraud case

Although we don't see many here at Middlesex North, some of the other registries of deeds in Massachusetts report a fairly regular level of recording activity by adherents of the "sovereign citizen" movement.  The theory has something to do with the law that caused the US to go off the gold standard back in the 1930s.  Adherents contend that by declaring oneself a "sovereign citizen" (or sometimes a "sovereign country") they are no longer responsible for debts that would be payable in US dollars.

The case in point is from Washington state.  An accountant who advised and assisted a number of tax payers is seeking Federal tax refunds in the amount of debt they were purported to owe, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and pay $700,000 in restitution.  A press release from the Department of Justice about the case is here.  The FBI contends that the sovereign citizen movement has been closely affiliated with domestic terrorism and therefore closely monitors such activity.

Mid Month stats for June

District wide statistics for June 1 thru June 15 for 2012 and 2013:

For the first half of June 2012 there were 266 deeds; for the first half of June 2013 there were 252.

For the first half of June 2012 there were 550 mortgages; for the first half of June 2013 there were 553.

For the first half of June 2012 there were 22 foreclosure deeds; for the first half of June 2013 there were 10.

 For the first half of June 2012 there were 34 orders of notice; for the first half of June 2013 there were 5.

Foreclosure auctions this week

I just updated our foreclosure auction calendar which can be viewed HERE. 

There are seven foreclosure auctions scheduled for this week.  Here they are:

Monday, June 17, 2013

• 16 Kevin Rd, Dracut at 10 am
• 175 Willard St Unit 22, Lowell at 11 am

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

• 18 Fourth St, Lowell at noon

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

•  35 Maple  St Units 13 & 14, Lowell at 11 am
• 541 Mammoth Rd, Dracut at 2 pm

Thursday, June 20, 2013

• 850 Princeton Blvd, Lowell at 3 pm

Friday, June 21, 2013

• 44-46 Smith St, Lowell at 2 pm

Lowell real estate sales - week of June 11, 2013

June 10, 2013 (Monday)

40 Sayles St for $185,000

799 Chelmsford St for $231,700

581 Lakeview Ave for $150,000

June 11, 2013 (Tuesday)

309 Lawrence St fro $185,000

23 Read St for $180,000

June 12, 2013 (Wednesday)

45 Jewett St for $90,000

130 Bowden St for $20,250,000

June 13, 2013 (Thursday)

369 Aiken Ave Unit 24 for $102,000

140 Cross St for $167,500

264-266 Gibson St for $360,000

June 14, 2013 (Friday)

14 Wannalancit St Unit C for $92,500

61 Bishop St for $235,000

240 Jackson St Unit 323 for $135,000

688 Beacon St Unit 688 for $109,900

67 Westchester St for $223,900

27 Blossom St for $152,000

200 Rogers St Unit 11 for $183,000

200 Market St unit 3113 for $81,000

19 Almont St for $320,000

Tax Takings

The city of Lowell dropped off a big pile of tax takings to be recorded today - 227 in all, 218 on recorded land (document type TAKE) and 9 on registered land (TAX TAKING).  They are all for FY2012 real estate taxes and most seem to be in the $2000 to $4000 range.

In past years, these documents were treated mostly as ongoing liens on the property to be settled the next time the premises was sold or refinanced.  Last year, however, the city bundled these tax takings up and auctioned them off.  Presumably the same thing will happen again this summer so anyone whose name appears on one of these documents would be wise to contact the city tax collector and try to bring some resolution to the proceedings sooner rather than later.

Median sales prices for Lowell

I calculated the median sales price for deeds for property in Lowell by year since 2002.  Here's what I found:

• 2002 - $185,000
• 2003 - $216,500
• 2004 - $237,900
• 2005 - $254,000
• 2006 - $246,000
• 2007 - $223,750
• 2008 - $180,000
• 2009 - $170,000
• 2010 - $174,950
• 2011 - $165,000
• 2012 - $169,900

May recording stats for Lowell

On Friday, I posted the recording statistics for the entire ten-town registry of deeds district for the month of May. Here are the stats for the city of Lowell for the same time period:

• In May 2012, there were 109 deeds recorded for property in Lowell; in May 2013 there were 170, an increase of 56% 
• In May 2012, there were 224 mortgages recorded for property in Lowell; in May 2013 there were 280, an increase of 25%.
• In May 2012, there were 13 foreclosure deeds; in May 2013 there were 5, a decrease of 74%
• In May 2012, there were 24 orders of notice; in May 2013 there were 9, a decrease of 63%.