August Foreclosure Stats

An article in today’s Globe gives good news and bad news about foreclosure activity in Massachusetts during August. The good news is that statewide, the number of foreclosure deeds filed in August 2009 was 35% less than the number filed in August 2008. The bad news was that the number of Orders of Notice filed (that is, the document that signals the start of the foreclosure process) had risen 150% over the same period.

Our statistics here in the Middlesex North District tell a different – and more positive - story. The number of foreclosure deeds recorded in Middlesex North in August 2009 was 56% less than the number filed in August 2008. That percentage decrease is relatively constant whether you are looking just at Lowell or at the other towns in the district. For example, the number of foreclosure deeds recorded for Lowell in August 2009 was 53% less than filed in August 2008. The drop for the non-Lowell towns for the same period was 61%.

Unlike the state, which has seen a dramatic rise in the number of new foreclosures (i.e., Orders of Notice) the Middlesex North District saw a decline in the number of those documents filed. District-wide, August 2009 saw a 13% decline from August 2008, with a 16% decline in Lowell and a 9% decline for the towns.

I’m not sure why this region seems to have less foreclosure activity than in other parts of the state, but the numbers definitely show a unique trend here in Greater Lowell.