BOSTON, October 6, 2015 – Foreclosure petitions in the Bay State rose again in August, increasing 33.4 percent compared with August 2014, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. This marks the 18th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in petition starts.
Lenders filed 959 petitions to foreclose in August this year, compared with 719 filed in August 2014. There have been 7,319 petitions filed year to date in Massachusetts, a 56.2 percent increase from last year’s mark through August of 5419. Petitions note the first step in the foreclosure process, when lenders file notice of their intention to foreclose with the Commonwealth’s Land Court.
Statewide, 383 foreclosure deeds were recorded in August, a 10.4 percent increase from the 347 filed in August last year. There have been a total of 2,799 deeds recorded in Massachusetts in 2015, a 24.7 percent increase from the 2,244 filed through August 2014. Deeds represent completed foreclosures, when lenders put the change in ownership of the foreclosed property in the public record at registries of deeds.
“The number of monthly foreclosure starts has been holding steady in the range of 800-1,000 for most of 2015,” said Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. “Primarily this is a clean-up operation by lenders dealing with long-delinquent borrowers. The trend is not an indicator of new trouble in the currently robust real estate market.”
The Warren Group tracked 530 auction announcements last month, a 3.3 percent increase from the 513 filed in August 2014. There have been 4,319 auctions in Massachusetts year to date, a 30.8 percent increase from the same stretch in 2014 when there were 3,302. An auction notice is a bank’s declaration that efforts to repair the loan with the borrower have failed, and the property will go up for sale.
The Warren Group has recorded and tracked real estate transactions since 1872. The fourth-generation family-owned company uses its long-time leadership in Boston real estate and banking information to produce specialized reports and news publications, including Banker & Tradesman and The Commercial Record.
With more than 140 years as a local business leader, The Warren Group has developed relationships with a variety of industry leaders and trade groups, including bankers, mortgage brokers, credit unions and lawyers. Working together with our partners, The Warren Group organizes trade shows and industry events, including The Bank Summit, coming in October. For more information about The Warren Group, visit www.thewarrengroup.com.
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