The View from the Recording Counter

The chatter at the recording counter at the Lowell Registry has turned pessimistic. May’s assertions that June would be “a good month” and that “things are starting to pick up” have given way to the reality that the market remains flat. Historically, June is one of the busiest months for the recording of deeds here at Middlesex North, but you have to go back to 1997 to find fewer deeds recorded during the first half of June. The slowdown in mortgage recordings is almost as bad. The 659 mortgages recorded during the past two weeks were the fewest for the first half of June since 2000. To put it in perspective, at the height of the refinancing boom in 2003, we recorded 1828 mortgage during the same two weeks. Of course, many of those mortgages are now in foreclosure, but that’s another story.