Following up on my post about the Boston City Council petitions that should decrease the number of foreclosures in Boston, statewide foreclosures in April fell to their lowest monthly level in over a year even prior to the petitions taking effect.  The Warren Group (a real estate records agency in MA) is reporting via their press release:

A total of 755 foreclosure deeds were recorded statewide in April, a 43.8 percent drop from 1,344 in April 2008 -- a period that had the second highest number of foreclosure deeds since The Warren Group started tracking foreclosure activity in 2005. April foreclosure deeds were also down 20.8 percent from 953 in March.

Petitions to foreclose, the first step in the foreclosure process, plunged 39.5 percent to 2,013 from 3,328 in April 2008. The number of foreclosure petitions also fell 15.5 percent from 2,381 in March, the first drop in month-to-month petitions in five months. Foreclosure petitions hit a peak last April, a month before a state law took effect that requires lenders to give delinquent borrowers 90-days to catch up on missed mortgage payments. So far this year, lenders have filed 8,649 foreclosure petitions statewide, 30 percent fewer than 12,336 a year earlier.

Change in Massachusetts foreclosures since 2005

Here are graphs (also from The Warren Group) showing foreclosure petitions (banks starting the foreclosure process) and foreclosure deeds (the actual foreclosure taking place) since January 2005 by month:

Are foreclosures finally slowing down?

Is the new Obama $75 Billion foreclosure prevention plan starting to make a dent?  Are the petitions that many cities (like Boston) and states enacted slowing the tide of foreclosures? 

That could be, but I am not sold on it after seeing only one month's worth of declines.  If it continues through May and June, then we may be able to point to a continual decrease in foreclosures that may lead to price stabilization, especially in the hardest hit communities).  But with the economy still in rough waters (though there have been some positive signs recently), unemployment still rising, and home prices still falling, there is still plenty of pressure on homeowners at risk of default.  Even with more and more regulation and government help, it's going to be difficult to prevent many of those homes from being foreclosed on.  With plenty of bank owned inventory on the market already needing to be sold, hopefully we are seeing the beginning of a trend downward in foreclosures and eventual price stabilization throughout the state.

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