Massachusetts Foreclosure Deeds Increase in November

The number of foreclosure deeds recorded in Massachusetts decreased in November compared to the prior month, but rose 38 percent from November 2007, according to The Warren Group, a publisher of real estate market data.

A total of 880 foreclosure deeds were filed in November, down 11.6 percent from 996 in October; however, foreclosure deeds increased 37.9 percent compared to the 638 foreclosure deeds recorded in November 2007. November is the third consecutive month that foreclosure deeds have slipped under 1,000, but year-to-date foreclosure deeds have spiked 64.8 percent to 11,486 from 6,970 during the first 11 months of 2007.

“Efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis may have pushed lenders to take a step back and postpone foreclosures. Some lenders are working harder to pursue loan modifications, but unfortunately even with these modifications many homeowners still face an uphill battle to hold onto their homes,” said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group.

Unfortunately, it's true. Loan modifications will not help the majority of homeowners.

Foreclosure petitions, which are the first step in the foreclosure process, have dropped significantly from earlier in 2008. Fewer petitions to foreclose were filed by lenders in November, falling by 50.9 percent to 1,335 compared to 2,721 a year earlier, and foreclosure petitions were 31.8 percent lower than October’s 2,065 petitions

November’s petitions are much lower than the winter, when about 3,000 petitions were being filed each month. A total of 20,179 foreclosure petitions have been filed from January through November, down 24.8 percent from 26,848 during the same months in 2007.

There were 1,134 auction announcements in November, a 27.9 percent increase from 887 a year earlier. Auction announcements through the first 11 months of the yeas jumped 34.2 percent to 18,064 from 13,465.