Posts (RSS)City Tops Foreclosed Homes List in Massachusetts
The city of Worcester in Massachusetts bore the brunt of the foreclosure crisis by having the highest number of properties on foreclosed homes list in the state in the first half of this year. The city also had the highest number of foreclosure filings.
In June, Worcester posted 36 actual foreclosures, representing a decline from 72 the same month last year. For the first half of this year, actual foreclosures in the city reached 264, a drop from 391 compared with the same period last year.
However, when it comes to foreclosure filings in June, the trend was a complete reversal from actual foreclosures.
Worcester posted 121 filings, representing an increase of 656 percent from the total of 16 in the same month last year. And for the first half of this year, the 582 foreclosure filings were just a slight drop from the 587 reported in the first half of last year.
Statewide, the total number of properties on foreclosed homes list went down for the period but filings went the other way. Actual foreclosures in Worcester declined by 29 percent from January to June this year, while filings rose over the same period in 2008.
For the first two quarters of this year, foreclosure deeds totaled 4,737 compared with 6,707 the same period last year. Last month’s total foreclosure acntivity declied to 621 or 45.1 percent from last year same month’s total of 1,131.
However, the total number of foreclosure deeds in the state last month was 6.7 percent higher from the previous month’s 582.
Industry analysts said that foreclosure filings in the state last month were one of the highest posted since early 2008. They noted that foreclosure filings dropped drastically around second quarter of last year after Massachusetts implemented a law that required lending institutions to give delinquent borrowers at least 3 months to make their account current before they start foreclosure proceedings.
But in the following months, analysts noted a significant increase in filings and foreclosed homes list auctions. They said that loan modifications may have helped some distressed home avert foreclosures, while short sales may have also contributed to alleviating the problem.
However, they question whether these programs are enough to really help majority of distressed homeowners avoid putting their properties on foreclosed home list, especially those who have lost their jobs and source of income.