2004 Wrap Up

On the last day of 2004, it’s appropriate to remember the significant events of the past 365 days. Having the Patriots win the Super Bowl in February and the Red Sox the World Series in October put sports at the top of my list. It’s also the year that John Kerry lost a close presidential race. At the registry, 2004 will be remembered for the precipitous drop in the number of documents recorded. Our 2003 total was 146956 while 2004 slid to 96204, a decrease of 35%. This decline was due in large part to a 32% decrease in the number of mortgages recorded (41800 in 2003 versus 27841 in 2004). The number of deeds recorded, however, was statistically the same (9099 in 2003 versus 8990 in 2004). Even though the overall number of deeds was about the same, a comparison of the two-year totals of deeds by towns within the registry district shows quite a bit of variation:
Number of deeds recorded in 2004 compared with 2003
Billerica down 5%
Carlisle up 2%
Chelmsford up 17%
Dracut down 6%
Dunstable down 19%
Lowell up 3%
Tewksbury down 6%
Tyngsboro down 16%
Westford up 10%
Wilmington down 20%

Happy New Year.