Sales and Foreclosure Reports

We have posted our Sales Report for April. You can find it and other monthly reports for this year on the main page of the LowellDeeds.com website. Just scroll down to the Quick References section and look for links to:

Sales Reports

Foreclosure Reports

Please note that there were no new foreclosures to report in April due to the Covid-19 emergency foreclosure moratorium.

As for our volume of documents, the number of deeds recorded in April was down 27% compared to April 2019, while the number of mortgages was up 67% over the same period.

December 2019 Recording Statistics

Here are some statistics on the number of documents recorded in December 2019 compared to December 2018:

• Total Documents: In Dec 2019 there were 6173 documents recorded, a 36% increase from 4504 recorded in Dec 2018
• Deeds: In Dec 2019 there were 670 deeds recorded, a 15% increase from 583 in Dec 2018
• Mortgages: In Dec 2019 there were 1165 mortgages recorded, a 60% increase from 729 in Dec 2018
• Foreclosure Deeds: In Dec 2019 there were 11 foreclosure deeds recorded, a 31% decrease from 16 in Dec 2018
• Orders of Notice: In Dec 2019 there were 24 orders of notice recorded, a 20% increase from 20 in Dec 2018.

Here are some statistics for all of 2019 compared to all of 2018:

• Total Documents: In 2019 there were 60,104 documents recorded, a 5% increase from 57,380 recorded in 2018
• Deeds: In 2019 there were 7459 deeds recorded, a 2% increase from 7319 in 2018
• Mortgages: In 2019 there were 11,631 mortgages recorded, a 19% increase from 9745 in 2018
• Foreclosure Deeds: In 2019 there were 91 foreclosure deeds recorded, a 57% decrease from 213 in 2018
• Orders of Notice: In 2019 there were 260 orders of notice recorded, a 9% decrease from 287 in 2018.

May recording statistics

Here are some statistics on the number of documents recorded during May:

Districtwide - May 2019 to May 2018

Deeds - There were 629 deeds recorded, a 1% decrease from the 638 in 2018;
Mortgages - There were 990 mortgages recorded, a 20% increase from 825 in 2018;
Foreclosure deeds - there were 2 foreclosure deeds recorded, an 88% decrease from 17 in 2018;
Orders of Notice - there were 28 orders of notice, a 17% increase from 24 in 2018;
Total Documents - there were 4831 documents recorded, a 1% increase from 4768 in 2018.

Districtwide - May 2019 to April 2019

Deeds - There were 629 deeds recorded, no change from 630 in April;
Mortgages - There were 990 mortgages recorded, a 20% increase from 824 in April;
Foreclosure deeds - there were 2 foreclosure deeds recorded, a 67% decrease from 6 in April;
Orders of Notice - there were 28 orders of notice, a 56% increase from 18 in April;
Total Documents - there were 4831 documents recorded, a 4% increase from 4653 in April.

Deed statistics by town

Each month I compiles some statistics of recordings here at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. This helps us measure our volume of recordings but it also serves as an indicator of the state of the local real estate market. However, as with all quantitative analysis, unless you know exactly what is being measured, the numbers presented can be misleading.

For example, when I post something about total number of deeds recorded for the month, that almost always refers to all Recorded Land deeds and does not include Registered Land deeds. One reason for that is that registered land is a relatively small percentage of our recordings and, in most cases, are distributed evenly among the towns in the district (with the one exception being Billerica, which has a lot of registered land).

A second caveat on "number of deeds" involves the amount of consideration stated on the deed. A significant percentage of deeds recorded each month transfer property between related parties (as in a sole owner transferring to herself and her spouse; or a married couple transferring it from them as joint owners to them as trustees of a family trust). The consideration stated on these deeds is usually $1 so they can't be considered arms-length transactions.

Because I've been consistent in (1) not counting registered land deeds and (2) counting $1 deeds, the comparisons have been consistent and are able to reflect recording volume and real estate trends. Going forward, I won't change how existing reports are compiled.

However, I plan to add a new deed report into the statistical mix. This one will be done at the end of each month and will compare deed recordings for the entire year up until that point ("year to date") for the current year with the same period of the previous year. For each annual period I will show "all deeds" which will reflect Recorded and Registered Land without regard to consideration. For the same periods, I will also show the number of deeds with consideration greater than $60,000 and less than $1.2mil. These boundaries are meant to eliminate non-arms length transactions at the lower end, and properties of extraordinary value at the upper end. I will use that set of deeds and their values to calculate the median price of deeds recorded during the respective periods.

Perhaps it's best to illustrate for the period January through April for 2017 and 2018:

Billerica
All deeds: 2017 = 265; 2018 = 297; up 12%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 140; 2018 = 167; up 19%
Median price: 2017 = $382,500; 2018 = $392,000; up 2%

Chelmsford
All deeds: 2017 = 279; 2018 = 256; down 8%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 147; 2018 = 147; no change
Median price: 2017 = $335,000; 2018 = $350,000

Dracut
All deeds: 2017 = 261; 2018 = 268; up 3%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 160; 2018 = 177; up 11%
Median price: 2017 = $250,000; 2018 = $322,000; up 29%

Lowell
All deeds: 2017 = 638; 2018 = 620; down 3%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 412; 2018 = 399; down 3%
Median price: 2017 = $235,000; 2018 = $256,000; up 9%

Tewksbury
All deeds: 2017 = 235; 2018 = 224; down 5%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 122; 2018 = 106; down 13%
Median price: 2017 = $357,500; 2018 = $385,500

Tyngsborough
All deeds: 2017 = 106; 2018 = 83; down 22%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 64; 2018 = 48; down 25%
Median price: 2017 = $275,000; 2018 = $337,000; up 23%

Westford
All deeds: 2017 = 142; 2018 = 174; up 23%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 79; 2018 = 92; up 16%
Median price: 2017 = $407,500; 2018 = $500,000

Wilmington
All deeds: 2017 = 166; 2018 = 198; up 19%
Deeds >$60K: 2017 = 83; 2018 = 85; up 2%
Median price: 2017 = $430,000; 2018 = $484,000; up 13%

2017 Recording Statistics for Lowell

Last week I wrote a blog post with recording statistics for the entire Middlesex North Registry of Deeds district for all of 2017 and for just the month of December. Here's the equivalent information just for the city of Lowell, comparing the numbers for 2017 to those from 2016:

Deeds: in 2017, 2,018 were recorded v 2,086 in 2016, a 3% decline

Mortgages: in 2017, 2,512 were recorded v 2,768 in 2016, a 9% decline

Foreclosure Deeds: in 2017, 100 were recorded v 122 in 2016, a 18% decline

Orders of Notice: in 2017, 146 were recorded v 188 in 2016, a 22% decline

Total Docs: in 2017, 13,878 documents were recorded v 15,143 in 2016, a 8% decline

Here are the numbers for December 2017 compared to December 2016:

Deeds: in Dec 2017, 154 v 174 in Dec 2016, a 11% decline

Mortgages: in Dec 2017, 194 v 248 in Dec 2016, a 22% decline

Foreclosure Deeds: in Dec 2017, 5 v 4 in Dec 2016, a 25% increase

Orders of Notice: in Dec 2017, 17 v 12 in Dec 2016, a 42% increase

Total Docs: in Dec 2017, 1,074 v 1,478 in Dec 2016, a 27% decline

Median Prices in 2017

All deeds recorded at the registry of deeds must state the amount of consideration paid, so the registry has a record of every sale made for the towns in the registry district. However, the registry is concerned with who owns the land, not what is built upon it or its use (in the zoning sense of the word). Consequently, registry records do not differentiate between residential, commercial, industrial or other uses. That said, performing statistical analysis on the consideration of deeds recorded can provide some insight into real estate trends.

Here are the median prices of deeds recorded in 2017 for the ten communities in the Middlesex North District. To eliminate outliers, like related-party transfers or the sale of a multi-million dollar industrial building, the query for each community considers only those deeds with consideration greater than $60,000 and less than $1,200,000.

Town - Median Price - No. of Deeds
Billerica - $400,000 - 579
Carlisle - $730,000 -    74
Chelmsford - $361,500 - 694
Dracut - $290,000 - 633
Dunstable - $489,000 - 67
Lowell - $250,000 - 1475
Tewksbury - $369,950 - 552
Tyngsboro - $339,900 - 225
Westford - $460,000 - 399
Wilmington - $460,000 - 355

Recording Statistics for 2017

Here are the number of recordings of major document types at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds in 2017 with 2016 totals included for context:

Deeds: in 2017, 7268 were recorded v 7776 in 2016, a 7% decline

Mortgages: in 2017, 10,647 were recorded v 12,639 in 2016, a 16% decline

Foreclosure Deeds: in 2017, 194 were recorded v 270 in 2016, a 28% decline

Orders of Notice: in 2017, 379 were recorded v 471 in 2016, a 20% decline

Total Docs: in 2017, 59,064 documents were recorded v 65,521 in 2016, a 10% decline

Here are the numbers for December 2017 compared to December 2016:

Deeds: in Dec 2017, 605 v 697 in Dec 2016, a 13% decline

Mortgages: in Dec 2017, 892 v 1145 in Dec 2016, a 22% decline

Foreclosure Deeds: in Dec 2017, 12 v 16 in Dec 2016, a 25% decline

Orders of Notice: in Dec 2017, 47 v 28 in Dec 2016, a 68% increase

Total Docs: in Dec 2017, 4790 v 6125 in Dec 2016, a 22% decline

October recording statistics

The numbers of deeds, mortgages and total documents recorded at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds in October 2017 were down considerably from the same month a year earlier.

In October 2016, there were 5678 documents recorded; in October 2017 there were 5082, a decline of 10 percent;

In Oct 2016 there were 629 deeds; in Oct 2017 there were 607, a drop of 3 percent; 

In Oct 2016 there were 1178 mortgages; in Oct 2017 there were 946, a drop of 20 percent.

There was some good news. foreclosure deeds and orders of notice were down 31 percent and 34 percent respectively.

August recording stats

Here are the numbers of major document types recorded at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds in August 2017 compared to August 2016, first for the entire registry district, then just for Lowell.

Entire Registry District

Deeds recorded in August 2017 - 704
Deeds recorded in August 2016 - 823
decrease of 14%

Mortgages recorded in Aug 2017 - 1066
Mortgages recorded in Aug 2016 - 1304
decrease of 18%

Foreclosure deeds recorded in Aug 2017 - 13
Foreclosure deeds recorded in Aug 2016 - 51
decrease of 75% (it's good to have a decrease for these)

Total docs recorded in Aug 2017 - 5498
Total docs recorded in Aug 2016 - 6669
decrease of 18%

For Lowell only

Deeds recorded in August 2017 - 193
Deeds recorded in August 2016 -194
no change

Mortgages recorded in Aug 2017 - 244
Mortgages recorded in Aug 2016 -273
decrease of 11%

Foreclosure deeds recorded in Aug 2017 - 11
Foreclosure deeds recorded in Aug 2016 -23
decrease of 52%

Total docs recorded in Aug 2017 -1317
Total docs recorded in Aug 2016 -1471
decrease of 10%

End of year recording statistics

Here are some recording statistics for 2016 (entire year) and for the month of December (with comparisons to the same periods in 2015).

2016 (entire year)

Total docs recorded: 65,521 - an increase of 8% from 2015 (60,516)
Deeds: 7,776 - an increase of 12% from 2015 (6,913)
Mortgages: 12,639 - an increase of 13% from 2015 (11,148)
Foreclosure Deeds: 270 - an increase of 29% from 2015 (209)
Orders of Notice: 471 - a decrease of 2% from 2015 (479)

December 2016

Total docs: 6,125 - increase of 11% from Dec 2015 (5,512)
Deeds: 697 - increase of 7% (650)
Mortgages: 1,145 - increase of 19% (961)
Foreclosure Deeds: 16 - decrease of 41% (27)
Orders of Notice: 28 - decrease of 10% (31)

Median Sales Prices

Each year I calculate the median price stated on deeds recorded for each of the ten communities within the Middlesex North Registry District. This year, I decided to get a head start and did the calculations at the end of November, basing the 2016 median sales price on the first eleven months of the year (I'll redo the numbers in January for the full year). Here are the numbers for each town, compared to the previous year and to the highest price reached during the real estate bubble:

Lowell: 2016 median price of $229,154 is 4% higher than 2015 median of $221,000. Lowell's highest median was $254,900 in 2005.

Billerica: 2016 median price of $365,000 is 4% higher than 2015 median of $350,000. It also exceeds the bubble median of $359,900 from 2005 for the first time.

Carlisle: 2016 median price of $569,500 is 2% higher than 2015 median of $560,000. Carlisle's highest median was $597,500 in 2007.

Chelmsford: 2016 median price of $330,000 is 2% higher than 2015 median of $323,000, and exceeds the bubble median of $325,000 in 2005 for the first time.

Dracut: 2016 median price of $271,000 is 4% higher than 2015 median of $259,900, but still trails the bubble median of $275,450 from 2008.

Dunstable: 2016 median price of $430,000 is statistically the same as 2015 median of $430,400, and still trails bubble median of $460,000 in 2005.

Tewksbury: 2016 median price of $354,900 is 8% higher than 2015 median of $329,450, and exceeds the bubble median of $345,000 in 2005 for the first time.

Tyngsborough: 2016 median of $314,950 is 9% higher than 2015 median of $288,500, but still trails the bubble median of $350,000 in 2006.

Westford: 2016 median of $405,000 is 7% higher than 2015 median of $380,000, but still trails the bubble median of $420,000 from 2005.

Wilmington: 2016 median of $403,500 is 1% higher than 2015 median of $400,000. Both of these exceed the bubble median high of $384,450 from 2006.

November recording statistics

The number of documents recorded in November 2016 was up substantially from last November. However, compared to the previous month (October 2016), the volume of documents held steady. Here are some numbers:

Nov 2016 vs Nov 2015

The overall number of documents recorded in Nov 2016 was up 23% from Nov 2015 (5778 v 4687)

The number of deeds recorded was up 30% (673 v 518)

The number of mortgages recorded was up 62% (1178 v 946)

The number of foreclosure deeds was down 27% (19 v 26)

The number of orders of notice was down 46% (25 v 46)

Looking at month-to-month statistics:

Oct 2016 had 629 deeds; Nov 2016 had 673.

Oct 2016 had 1178 mortgages; Nov 2016 had 1216.

Oct 2016 had 29 foreclosure deeds; Nov 2016 had 19.

Oct 2016 had 53 orders of notice; Nov 2016 had 25.

Oct 2016 had 5678 documents; Nov 2016 had 5778.

October Recording Statistics

Here are Middlesex North Registry of Deeds recording statistics for October 2016 compared to October 2015, and 2016 year-to-date compared to 2015 year-to-date:

October

The number of deeds recorded this October was up 4% from October 2015 (603 to 629)
Mortgages were up 25% (946 to 1178)
Foreclosure deeds were up 61% (18 to 29)
Orders of Notice were down 22% (68 to 53)
Total documents were up 6% (5337 to 5678)

Year-to-date

Deeds recorded thru October were up 11% from from the same period in 2015 (5035 to 5583)
Mortgages were up 7% (8410 to 8974)
Foreclosure deeds up 32% (139 to 184)
Orders of Notice up 2% (370 to 377)
Total documents up 5% (44739 to 46949)

September statistics

Here are some recording statistics from September 2016 compared to September 2015:

Total documents recorded were up 18%, from 5085 to 6017

Deeds were up 14%, from 622 to 712

Mortgage were up 27%, from 955 to 1263

Foreclosure Deeds were up 6%, from 16 to 17

Orders of Notice were down 36%, from 83 to 53.

Midyear Revenue Collections

Besides recording documents, the registry of deeds also takes in revenue for the Commonwealth in the form of recording fees, excise taxes, surcharges for the Community Preservation Act matching fund, and a few others. Revenue for the first six months of calendar year 2016 is significantly higher than the same six months in 2015. Here are some particulars:

Overall revenue is up 19%, from $6,320,680 in the first half of CY15 to $7,520,323 of CY16;

Recording fees are up 5%, from $2,021,201 to $2,123,125;

The big increase is in deeds excise tax collections which increased 31%, from $3,450,603 to $4,518,864. Because the number of deeds recorded is only up slightly, this indicates that home prices are up considerably since the excise tax is calculated based on the sales price of property sold.

Middlesex North: 2016 Midyear Statistical Summary

The number and type of documents recorded at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds during the first half of 2016 remained stable compared to the same period in 2015 although foreclosure-related documents were up by about one-third. Here are the numbers for major document types:

Deeds were up 17%, rising from 3018 in the first half of 2015 to 3520 in the first half of 2016;

Mortgages were up just 1%, with 5434 recorded in 2015 and 5505 recorded in 2016;

Foreclosure deeds were up 26%, rising from 86 in 2015 to 108 in 2016;

Orders of Notice were up 33%, rising from 185 in 2015 to 246 in 2016;

Overall documents were up 5%, from 28,249 in the first half of 2015, to 29,674 in the first half of 2015.

Electronic recording continues to grow. Of the 29,674 documents recorded in the first half of 2016, 14,701 (50%) were recorded electronically. About half of all deeds (1703 of 3520) were recorded electronically, but 68% of all mortgages (3735 of 5505) came to the registry electronically.

May recording statistics

Here are some recording statistics from May 2016 compared to numbers from last May:

This May, there were 635 deeds recorded, a 26% increase from last May (502)
. . . there were 1031 mortgages, a 15% increase from last May (895)
. . . there were 20 foreclosure deeds, a 17% decrease from last May (24)
. . . there were 48 orders of notice, a 55% increase from last May (31).
. . . there were 5194 documents recorded, a 12% increase from last May (4643).

Year-to-date, there were 2734 deeds recorded, a 22% increase from last year (2249)
. . . there were 4346 mortgages, a 3% increase from last year (4222)
. . . there were 96 foreclosure deeds, a 37% increase from last year (70)
. . . there were 213 orders of notice, a 50% increase from last year (142).
. . . there were 23631 documents recorded, a 10% increase from last year (21541).

April 2016 recording statistics

Recording activity remained stable in April compared to the prior month and to the same month last year.  Here are the numbers:

592 deeds were recorded in April 2016, a 11% increase from the 532 recorded in April 2015;
996 mortgages were recorded in April 2016, nearly the same as the 993 in the previous April.
10 foreclosure deeds were recorded, a 50% decrease from the 20 in the previous April
37 orders of notice were recorded, a 23% increase from the 30 recorded the previous April.


For year-to-date figures (January, February, March, and April of 2016) compared to the same four months in 2015:

Deeds were up 20%, from 1747 to 2099;
Mortgages were down slightly from 3327 to 3315;
Foreclosure deeds were up 65%, from 46 to 76;
Orders of notice were up 49%, from 111 to 165;
Overall documents were up 9%, from 16898 to 18437.

End of Month; End of Quarter Statistics

Here is our recording volume of certain document types for March 2016 compared to March 2015, followed by the same comparison for the first quarter of the year:

March 2015 v March 2016
Deeds were up 20% (486 v 580)
Mortgages were down 10% (982 v 886)
Foreclosure deeds were up 106% (16 v 33)
Orders of Notice were up 117% (24 v 52)
Total documents were up 3% (4796 v 4945)

1st Quarter 2015 v 1st Quarter 2016
Deeds were up 24% (1215 v 1507)
Mortgages were down 1% (2334 v 2319)
Foreclosure deeds were up 154% (26 v 66)
Orders of notice were up 58% (81 v 128)
Total documents were up 13% (11,952 v 13,559)

2015 Recording Statistics

The number of documents recorded in all major categories was up in 2015 compared to 2014:

Deeds increased 5% from 6561 in 2014 to 6913 in 2015;
Mortgages increased 21% from 9190 in 2014 to 11148 in 2015
Foreclosure deeds increased 35% from 155 in 2014 to 209 in 2015
Orders of Notice increased 38% from 347 in 2014 to 479 in 2015.

Total documents increased 13% from 53,584 in 2014 to 60,516 in 2015.