Home Foreclosures Up in First Quarter, Following Statewide Trend
More homes were foreclosed upon in Wakefield so far this year than at this time last year.
Home foreclosures in Wakefield are up compared to this time of year last year, which follows the overall statewide trend, according to new data released by the Warren Group.
Foreclosure petitions, the first step in a foreclosure, tripled in March compared to last year in Wakefield, with three forclosure petitions in March this year versus one in March of 2011.
Year-to-date foreclosure petitions have also risen in Wakefield. By this time last year, four petitions to foreclose were filed, compared to nine this year, a 125 percent increase.
Statewide, lenders filed 1,621 petitions to foreclose in March, a 54.7 percent increase from 1,048 in March 2011. A total of 4,348 petitions to foreclose have been filed in Massachusetts during the first quarter, a 71.5 percent increase from 2,535 in the first quarter of last year.
One of the reasons for the dramatic gains is that foreclosure activity was significantly slower in 2011, according to the Warren Group. A national foreclosure suit against lenders coupled with a new law extending the right-to-cure period to 150 days caused for a major slowdown in foreclosure activity.
"Banks are stepping up foreclosures all over the country, and Massachusetts is no exception," said Timothy Warren, Jr., chief executive officer of The Warren Group. "Since the suit by state attorneys general over foreclosure abuses has been settled, a cloud has lifted and we may see numbers continue to rise."
Foreclosure deeds, which represent finished foreclosures, also posted a sharp increase in March in Wakefield, and statewide. There were no foreclosures in March of 2011, but two in March of 2012. At this time last year, there had only been one home foreclosed upon, versus this year, three have been foreclosed upon in Wakefield.
Overall in Massachusetts, foreclosure deeds rose 36.5 percent to 856 in March, up from 627 in March 2011, according to figures from The Warren Group. Foreclosure deeds totaled 2,254 in the first quarter of 2012, a 34.4 percent increase from 1,677 in the first quarter of 2011.
"We should note that foreclosure activity this year is well below the peak levels that we saw from 2007-2010," Warren said. "For example, March's elevated number of petitions to foreclose is still 37 percent below the number we saw in March 2010."
Olympic Roofing
4:17 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
As a roofer in the Wakefield area (http://www.olympicroofing.com/wakefield-ma-roofing) we have indeed noticed a rise in foreclosures over the past few months. On the bright side, at least it hasn't been like the 2007-2009 period when foreclosures were at their peak. We're betting the real estate market continues to slowly improve.
Sara Jacobi
9:51 am on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Thanks for sharing your observations! Numbers are up recently, but definitely still lower than the 2007-2009 time period.
Don
8:14 am on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I'll bet it won't. Funny how this story comes out when the "Galvinizers" celebrate how taxes are going to be raised so they can goldplate the schools in Wakefield, just to make "their" kids comfy. One little mistake, and with leaders like Romney/Obama we could be in depression much greater than the 1930s.
Dave Gray
11:38 am on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Don, my kids are all finished with school, and I have no dog in the hunt, other than to try to prevent some poor kid from getting skulled by a falling ceiling, drenched by a leak in the roof, or roasted/frozen while sitting in a "classroom" that has no windows. The place was in tough shape when my kids were there twenty years ago, and is a falling down dump now. Goldplate the schools? Hardly.
Dave Gray
12:06 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The key is building it right in the first place. The Greenwood was built in 1897, and remodeled in 1902 and 1924, and yet it's still a serviceable building because it was built like a fortress. It could use a little updating, but it's 115 years old, twice the age of the Galvin, and yet it is among the few public elementary schools in Massachusetts to receive a distinguished GreatSchools Rating of 8 out of 10.
Melrose has built 4 HS buildings in the same time frame, the latest in 1975, which has been remodeled twice already and is in need of more since it was placed on NEASC warning status for physical plant deficiencies.
The point? You don't need a new shiny building for kids to learn. You do need a new building when the one there now wasn't built to last and is now falling apart.