Winchester Foreclosures See Decrease, While State Numbers Increase

The housing market continues to struggle as foreclosures increase in towns across the state, however Winchester saw a slight decerase in home foreclosures this year, compared to 2010.

Foreclosure deeds, which mark the completion of a foreclosure, increased statewide by 5.9 percent compared to last year. While Winchester saw no foreclosure deeds in October, the town did see a slight decrease in year-to-date foreclosure deeds. Seven foreclosure deeds were completed at this time last year, compared to four that have been completed this year.

However, home foreclosure petitions are down by almost half in Winchester compared to this time year last year. By October of last year, there were 22 foreclosure petitions in Winchester, this year there are 12.

The petitions, which is the first step in a foreclosure, increased by 35 percent in October, compared to last year at the statewide level. In Winchester, the number decreased by 50 percent. Last October there were two petitions, this year there is one.

Year-to-date foreclosure petitions have dropped in Massachusetts. Through October of this year, 6,963 petitions to foreclose have been filed in Massachusetts, down 39 percent from 11,334 during the same period in 2010.

In Winchester, there were 16 foreclosure auctions so far this year, a 44 percent drop from the year before, when there were 29.

The number of auction announcements also saw a decrease at the state level. Auction announcements declined 61 percent to 1,284 from 3,292 in October 2010. From January through October, 14,354 auctions have been announced, a 45 percent decline from 26,049 auctions during the same period in 2010

Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive officer of The Warren Group, said that an increase in foreclosures across the state isn’t necessarily a bad sign.

"A rise in foreclosures is troubling for distressed homeowners, but in this case it's a positive signal that the backlog of foreclosures on bank's books is working through the system,” Warren said. "The real estate market cannot fully recover until foreclosures have been dealt with one way or another."