Lenders have seized 6,258 homes in foreclosure so far this year in Massachusetts, triple the number lost by delinquent homeowners over the same period in 2006, according to data released yesterday.
August was a peak month in the ongoing foreclosure crisis. According to Warren Group, a real estate data provider and publisher, lenders seized a record 1,018 properties in August, and initiated 3,115 new foreclosure proceedings against homeowners, also a record.
Since then, 673 properties were seized by lenders in September, and 731 in October. The drop in seizures since August, however, does not mean the foreclosure crisis is abating, said Alan Pasnik, Warren's senior analyst.
"There's a whole set of new adjustable-rate mortgages that are going to kick into their high rates next year and the year after," he said. Those higher rates will trigger larger monthly mortgage payments, making it likely that many more homeowners will have more trouble paying their mortgages, he said.
Pasnik added that one reason foreclosures might have declined is that lenders may be holding off because there are fewer potential buyers available in the current soft real estate market.
The Massachusetts Division of Banks said it has halted foreclosure proceedings on 505 properties since it opened a hot line in April, said David Cotney, the division's senior operating officer.
The new data may actually undercount the number of homeowners who have lost their houses because they could no longer afford their mortgages. That's because Warren Group does not count those transactions, known as deeds in lieu of foreclosure, in which homeowners agree to turn over their deeds before the lender moves to seize the property. Other cases involve delinquent borrowers selling their home for less than the outstanding debt, and either owing the remaining amount or getting lenders to absorb that loss.
Worcester had the highest number of foreclosures through October, according to Warren: 1,074, up from 428 a year earlier. It was followed by Middlesex County, 903; Essex County, 779; Suffolk County, 743; and Bristol County, 648.
The biggest increase was in Barnstable County on Cape Cod, which had 268 through October, compared with 78 in the prior year.
So far, lenders have filed 18,546 notices of foreclosure in Land Court against homeowners, Warren said.
Pasnik said the state's foreclosure problems will also continue to weigh on real estate prices. "If you take all those properties and dump them on the market, it can't help but drive the market down," he said. "Housing values are going to continue to fall until we reach some equilibrium again."
Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.
