Mass. foreclosure deeds nearly triple since ’06

BOSTON – Foreclosure deeds in Massachusetts so far this year have nearly tripled compared with the same period last year, The Warren Group reported today.
Through the end of October, 6,324 foreclosure deeds had been filed in the Bay State, the group found. That was three times as many filed in the first 10 months of 2006.
October filings of foreclosure deeds more than doubled those in the same month last year, totaling 731, compared with 333 filed statewide in October 2006. Month over month, foreclosure deeds increased 8.6 percent from the 673 filed in September.
Foreclosure petitions also surged, with more filed in the first three quarters of 2007 than in all of 2006, The Warren Group said. (October data is not yet available from the Mass. Land Court, the publisher noted. In September, the last month for which full petition data are available, petitions rose 57.3 percent above their year-ago level. READ MORE)
“Petitions to foreclose in September might have fallen when compared to August, but I think we’ll see petitions during the rest of this year continue their steady upward march,” Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement today. “August’s numbers were incredibly high, but we will probably see them matched before too long.
“Petitions may seem to have calmed a bit in September, but that is likely temporary. I think we’ll see more record-breaking numbers before the end of 2007.”
Petitions are the first step in the foreclosure process and do not always end in actual foreclosures. Some homeowners avert foreclosure auctions by selling their homes or refinancing after a petition is filed or even after the auction is advertised.
The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at www.thewarrengroup.com.