Business & Tech
Foreclosure Figures Down In Westford And Statewide
According to the Warren Group, there were fewer foreclosures in all parts of the foreclosure process in April than there was in April 2010.
April’s foreclosures throughout Massachusetts declined compared to the monthly totals from a year earlier, and Westford was no exception to the trend, with far fewer properties in town engaged in all parts of the foreclosure process.
In fact, only five homes in Westford were engaged in some part of the foreclosure process, according to figures from the Warren Group, a provider of Real Estate data throughout New England.
While a possible recovery from the recession of recent years may be the ultimate cause of the drop, Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren believes that it may just be the eye of the storm.
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"Lenders are still taking a cautious approach to foreclosures, and this is keeping foreclosure statistics at low levels for a while longer," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. "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.”
The figures from the Warren Group focused on the three parts of the foreclosure process: foreclosure petitions, foreclosure auction notices, and foreclosure deeds, and in all three categories the statewide statistics mirrored those found in Westford.
Find out what's happening in Westfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
With foreclosure petitions, the first part of the process, the commonwealth saw a 50 percent drop between April 2010 and 2011 while Westford also saw a 50 percent drop from four petitions in April 2010 to only two petitions last month.
Likewise, Massachusetts foreclosure deeds, which represent completed foreclosures, dropped 62 percent, comparable to the 50 percent drop in Westford.
However, the notices for foreclosure auctions also dropped significantly, down 51.7 statewide and 75 percent in town, with only two auctions taking place this April versus eight at the same time last year.
And yet, the positive numbers actually were not as good in some areas as they were in March, potentially indicating future problems to come.
“The increase in petitions from March to April shows that foreclosure activity has picked up a bit again,” said Warren. “We are likely to see increases in coming months.”
Here are some figures from Westford, as well as other local figures.
Westford April Foreclosure Petitions 4 2 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 13 9 April Auction Notices 8 2 Year To Date Aucton Notices 23 9 April Foreclosure Deeds 2 1 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 6 5 Chelmsford April Foreclosure Petitions 6 6 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 33 14 April Auction Notices 12 6 Year To Date Aucton Notices 34 20 April Foreclosure Deeds 2 1 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 13 7 Tyngsboro April Foreclosure Petitions 7 3 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 19 4 April Auction Notices 5 1 Year To Date Aucton Notices 23 11 April Foreclosure Deeds 4 1 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 8 10 Littleton April Foreclosure Petitions 7 0 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 13 1 April Auction Notices 0 0 Year To Date Aucton Notices 7 5 April Foreclosure Deeds 0 0 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 2 0 Billerica April Foreclosure Petitions 16 7 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 53 19 April Auction Notices 13 11 Year To Date Aucton Notices 66 36 April Foreclosure Deeds 9 3 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 17 7 Lowell April Foreclosure Petitions 53 19 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 190 63 April Auction Notices 100 28 Year To Date Aucton Notices 361 110 April Foreclosure Deeds 35 21 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 128 61 Groton April Foreclosure Petitions 0 2 Year To Date Foreclosure Petitions 8 5 April Auction Notices 5 1 Year To Date Aucton Notices 7 5 April Foreclosure Deeds 1 0 Year To Date Foreclosure Deeds 4 3Source: The Warren Group
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