Far Fewer Melrose Foreclosures So Far This Year Compared to 2010

Melrose has seen far fewer completed foreclosures through the first four months of the year compared to the same time period last year, a trend mirrored statewide, and the city has also seen fewer foreclosure proceedings start, according to the latest figures from The Warren Group.

No foreclosure deeds—which represent completed foreclosures—were filed against Melrose properties in April, compared to two deeds filed in April 2010, and so far this year, there has only been one completed foreclosure in Melrose. In the first four months of 2010, there were nine completed foreclosures.

Statewide, there were 519 foreclosure deeds filed last month, which is a decrease of 62 percent from the 1,375 deeds that were filed in April 2010. A total of 2,111 foreclosure deeds have been recorded in Massachusetts during the first four months of the year, down 56.2 percent from 4,824 a year earlier.

There also weren't any foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process, recorded in Melrose last month, compared to six petitions recorded in April 2010, and so far this year, there have only been five petitions filed in Melrose. In the first four months of 2010, the city saw 18 petitions filed.

Statewide, foreclosure petitions posted the highest number so far this year in April, although that number still represents an almost 51 percent year-over-year drop. There were 1,192 foreclosure petitions filed in Massachusetts last month, compared to 2,431 statewide. In the three previous months, petitions have ranged from 694 to 1,048.

This was the highest level of petitions since September, according to The Warren Group, when there were 2,358 petitions. Through April of this year, 3,727 petitions to foreclose have been filed statewide, down 58.6 percent from 9,008 during the same period in 2010.

Melrose has also seen fewer auction notices so far in 2011. Last month, there were two foreclosure auction notices, compared to eight in April 2010, and 14 so far this year. Last year through April, there were 24 auction notices.

Statewide, there were 1,382 auction announcements in April, down 51.7 percent from 2,861 a year ago. Year-to-date auction notices decreased almost 58 percent to 4,675 from 11,114 last year.

Timothy M. Warren, Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a press release that lenders are still taking a cautious approach to foreclosures, which is keeping foreclosure statistics low so far in 2011.

"This brief downturn should not sway us from the reality that the foreclosure crisis is not over, and we are likely to see more activity work its way through the system," Warren said in the press release. "The increase in petitions from March to April shows that foreclosure activity has picked up a bit again, and we are likely to see increases in coming months."

Information from a Warren Group press release was used in this report.