Foreclosures in Massachusetts fell 29 percent during the first half of 2009 compared to a year earlier, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported July 22, 2009; however, petitions to foreclose, the first step in the foreclosure process, rose 5.6 percent during the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period last year.
There were 4,737 foreclosure deeds from January through June, a 29.4 percent drop from 6,707 during the same months in 2008. In June, foreclosure deeds plunged 45.1 percent to 621 from 1,131 in June 2008, but climbed 6.7 percent from 582 in May. Foreclosure deeds are the final step in the foreclosure process.
While foreclosure deeds have declined year-over-year, the number of petitions to foreclose has increased. Lenders filed 13,813 petitions to foreclose during the first six months of 2009, up 5.6 percent from 13,076 last year. June’s foreclosure petitions jumped to 2,835, more than eight times higher than the 350 petitions in June 2008 and 21.7 percent higher than the 2,329 filings in May. The number of petitions to foreclose in June was the highest it’s been in the previous 13 months.
The Warren Group tracked 7,322 auction notices in the first half of the year, nearly 31 percent fewer than the 10,580 auction notices during the same period in 2008. Auction notices in June dropped 10.2 percent to 1,494 from 1,664 last June. But the number of auction notices increased 8.4 percent from May’s 1,378 auction notices.
I suspect we'll see the numbers fluctuate over the next six to 12 months as lenders continue to figure out how to proceed with the Obama Administration's loan modification plan, which has largely been unsuccessful.
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