Six Bay State communities – Amesbury, Attleboro, Berkley, Medway, Northbridge and Reading – had a single-family home sale of $1 million or more for the first time ever this year, according to statistics from registries of deeds for homes sold through August.

Million-dollar homes are no rarity in Brookline, Newton and Boston’s Back Bay. But now even more modest communities like Reading, Medway and Northbridge can boast about high-end homes sales.

Those three communities are among a half-dozen in Massachusetts that had their first-ever million-dollar home sales this year, according to statistics from registries of deeds collected by The Warren Group, parent company of Banker & Tradesman, during the first eight months of the year.

In Medway, where the median selling price for a single-family home was just under $400,000 last year, a 13-room Colonial with a gourmet kitchen and 5,550 square feet of living space fetched $1.22 million at the end of July.

Robin Fay, the listing agent for the home, said the seller was a builder who constructed the home for himself approximately three years ago.

“It is a spectacular house,” said Fay, an agent with Century 21 Westward Homes in Hopkinton. “If you knew anything about construction you could see how well this house was built.”

Fay, who mostly sells homes in nearby Hopkinton, said if the residence were located in a community like Dover, Hopkinton or Medfield, it could have sold for as much as $2 million or even more.

The couple who purchased the home already resided in Medway and was searching for a larger house.

“The price of that particular property in question reflected a really, really nice home in a really nice subdivision,” said Paul Yorkis, who owns Patriot Real Estate in Medway and worked with the buyers in the transaction.

“They [buyers] evaluated a number of homes in Medway before purchasing that particular home,” he said.

Even though this is the first home sale of $1 million or more in Medway to be recorded at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds, Yorkis said newly constructed homes in the million-dollar range have been purchased in the town before but haven’t been recorded.

Yorkis, who has lived in Medway for the last 22 years, said the family-friendly town is an easy commute to Boston, Providence, R.I., and Worcester – which makes it particularly attractive for people who work in those cities. He anticipates more higher-end home sales in Medway in the future.

“[Medway] is a desirable community to live in. It’s a small town Â… where the people in the community really value activities for children,” Yorkis said.

Paying a Premium
About 40 miles north of Medway, a brick-front Colonial with four bedrooms and four full bathrooms in Reading sold for $1.1 million in May. The home features central air conditioning, a large family room with floor-to-ceiling fireplace and a master bedroom suite with vaulted ceiling and walk-in closets.

David Hurley, owner of Boardwalk Real Estate in Reading – which listed the property – said the home, built about 10 years ago, underwent a “phenomenal upgrade” and boasts various amenities, including an upscale kitchen.

The buyers were residents of Reading who wanted to remain the community. According to Hurley, there were few homes that could compare to this one in Reading because new-home construction in the town is rare.

“There’s a big shortage of new construction in Reading,” he said. “People who are in the community already like it and are financially able to purchase a new exclusive home don’t have many options.”

Buyers could probably find a bigger selection of homes with similar amenities in other communities further away from Boston, Hurley said. “For those who want to stay in Reading, they’re going to pay a premium,” he said.

According to Hurley, the town’s proximity to Boston and its amenities – including its schools, library and youth sports programs – draw buyers to Reading, a community where the median selling price for a single-family was $418,500 last year.

In central Massachusetts, a Victorian-style home that once operated as an upscale restaurant sold for more than $1 million in June. Built in 1871, the 17-room residence sits on five waterfront acres in Northbridge, a town where the median selling price was $307,500 last year.

Dennis Duga, who sold the property, said the sale was unusual for Northbridge, an old New England mill town that is 13 miles from Worcester. “This is the biggest and best house in town,” said Duga, owner of Northeast Realty, which is based in Union, Conn.

Newly constructed homes in the community are selling in the $700,000 price range, he said.

According to Duga, the Victorian was part of an estate owned by John Whitin, a wealthy mill owner. In more recent years, a restaurant called The Victorian operated on the site for 22 years. The restaurant closed in 1993 and was being used as a single-family home when Duga listed it for sale.

On the Waterfront
The property is authorized as an eight-room bed and breakfast, but Duga said the family that purchased the home is using it as a residence for now.

Duga characterized the home as a “great value” and said if the home were located in a more affluent community like neighboring Grafton or Sutton it would have easily sold for $1.5 million or possibly more.

Amesbury, Berkley and Attleboro also had single-family homes that went for $1 million or more for the first time this year.

In August, a home on Amesbury’s Main Street that was built in 1880 sold for more than $1.2 million. With views of the Merrimack River, the home is located in Amesbury’s historic Point Shore and includes high ceilings and original woodwork.

Meanwhile, a waterfront property in Bristol County’s Berkley went for $1.05 million in August. Featuring more than 7,100 square feet of living space, the six-bedroom contemporary-style home sited on a 3.5-acre lot offers views of the Taunton River.

According to registry records, towns like Douglas, Seekonk and Middleborough also had sales of single-family homes in excess of $1 million this year. But those homes were attached to large tracts of land. In Middleborough, for example, a 9-room Colonial built in 1999 on Plain Street that sold for $1.5 million in August included 15 acres of land.