Year-to-date foreclosure deeds fell 29.5 percent to 6,778 from 9,610 the prior year, The Warren Group, a publisher of real estate data, reported October 20, 2009.
Lenders started and completed more foreclosures in Massachusetts during the third quarter than the previous quarter, but foreclosures have declined almost 30 percent compared to Q3 2008.
A total of 2,048 foreclosure deeds were recorded from July through September, a 3.9 percent increase from the 1,971 in the second quarter. But foreclosures dropped 29.4 percent from 2,903 in the third quarter of 2008. There were 702 foreclosures in September up 6.7 percent from 658 in August and down 12.1 percent from 799 in September 2008.A recent court ruling has caused many lenders to proceed more cautiously before completing foreclosures. Last week, a Massachusetts Land Court judge reaffirmed an earlier decision that invalidated two foreclosures because the lenders had not properly demonstrated that they owned the properties at the time they advertised the foreclosure auctions. The decision has held up hundreds foreclosure sales.
Petitions to foreclose, which mark the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts, have remained fairly steady this year. September foreclosure petitions climbed 5.5 percent to 2,527 from 2,396 in August and were also 11.9 percent higher than the 2,258 petitions filed in September 2008. Lenders have filed a total of 21,635 petitions to foreclose from January through September, a 28.9 percent increase from 16,779 during the same months in 2008.
The Warren Group tracked 1,716 auction announcements in September, a 21.8 percent increase from 1,409 in August and 15.6 percent higher than the 1,484 auction announcements last September. Year-to-date auction announcements slipped 18.1 percent to 12,519 from 15,282 a year earlier.
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