After more than a year of declines, foreclosure activity rose in Massachusetts in October, according to the Boston-based real estate data publisher The Warren Group.
Foreclosure petitions increased 5.9% from a year ago, rising to 1,193 from 1,127. This represents the first year-over-year jump in petitions since August 2010 and marks the fourth consecutive month petitions were greater than 1,000.
A total of 10,610 petitions have been initiated this year in Massachusetts, down nearly 52% from the same time period last year.
Also, foreclosure deeds increased 35.7% from 557 in October 2010 to 756 this year. In 2011, there have been 6,963 foreclosure deeds filed, a 39% drop from 11,334 that occurred through last October.
Over the past year, foreclosure activity diminished in the state because lenders were reviewing their procedures for documenting foreclosures. But Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, believes the October turnaround is a good sign for the Bay State.
“A rise in foreclosures is troubling for distressed homeowners, but in this case it's a positive signal that the backlog of foreclosures on bank's books is working through the system,” Warren said. “The real estate market cannot fully recover until foreclosures have been dealt with one way or another.”
