Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

The number of completed foreclosures in Massachusetts declined almost 13 percent in 2012 to 7,424, down from 8,531 foreclosures in 2011, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported January 28, 2013.

On the other hand, the number of foreclosure petitions, the first step in the MA foreclosure process, rose more than 35 percent to 17,152 last year from 12,634 in 2011. The foreclosure petition numbers in 2011 were artificially low, as many lenders slowed foreclosure procedures due to questions about how lenders were processing foreclosures.

Foreclosure petitions decreased 17 percent in December 2012. A total of 835 starts were recorded, down from 1,009 in December 2011. The December numbers marked the fewest number of foreclosure petitions recorded since May 2011. November and December were the only months in 2012 when there were fewer than 1,000 petitions in a month. The trend of fewer foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts started at the end of 2012 is expected to continue throughout 2013. 

A total of 3,276 foreclosure petitions were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 1.8 percent increase from the 3,2,17 petitions during the same quarter in 2011. Foreclosure petitions have increased for five straight quarters. 

In December, there were 265 foreclosure deeds – the final step in the Massachusetts foreclosure process – a 65 percent decrease from 758 deeds recorded in December 2011. The number of foreclosure deeds reached the highest point in March when there were 899 completed foreclosures in Massachusetts.

Foreclosure deeds in MA dropped dramatically in the fourth quarter. Foreclosure deeds decreased to 931 in the fourth quarter, a 56 percent plunge from 2,266 deeds in the fourth quarter of 2011.

In 2012, 3.4 percent of single-family home sales in Massachusetts were bank-owned properties, down from 3.8 percent in 2011. Bank-owned property sales of condominiums accounted for 2.6 percent of all condo sales in 2012, down from 3.5 percent in 2011.

Auction announcements declined in 2012. A total of 12,851 auction announcements were tracked in 2012, a 24 percent drop from 16,941 in 2011. Auction announcements in December totaled 172, an 84 percent decrease from 1,135 during the same month in 2011.