Mass. foreclosure deeds rose 187.5 percent in April
Massachusetts foreclosure deeds "soared to their highest recorded level in April," the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman and local real estate data, said today.
Foreclosure deeds rose 187.5 percent in April, from 464 in April 2007 to 1,334, said the Warren Group, which added that there has not been more than 1,334 deeds recorded in a single month since the firm began tracking deeds in 2005.
Deeds recorded in the first four months of the year are up 152.2 percent, from 1,650 last year to 4,161 this year, the firm also said.
“The Massachusetts foreclosure mess is just not getting better,” Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. “Thousands of homeowners are entering the foreclosure process every month, and about one-third of them are losing their homes. It’s staggering to see how the numbers have exploded in the past three years.”
Petitions to foreclose, the first step in the foreclosure process, rose 66 percent in April to 3,327 this year, the highest number of deeds in any month since the firm began recording such data in 2005, the Warren Group said; petitions recorded year-to-date rose 46.3 percent to 12,335.
The Warren Group did find a bright spot: Auction announcements seemed to stabilize somewhat in April.
"After two years of monthly increases that sometimes hovered above 200 percent, announcements increased only 7.2 percent in April, from 1,647 last year to 1,765 this year," the Warren Group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
