Petitions to foreclose down in Mass. in June, but completed foreclosures soar

June foreclosure petitions decline in Mass.

BOSTON — Fewer petitions to foreclose on homes were filed in Massachusetts in June compared with a year ago, even while the number of homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure more than doubled.

The Warren Group, an independent publisher of real estate data, says lenders filed 2,220 foreclosure petitions — the first step in the foreclosure process — in June. That represented a more than 20 percent drop from the previous June.

Foreclosure petitions were down 3.4 percent for the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period the year before.

But while fewer foreclosures were being started in June, more that had already begun were coming to a conclusion. The Warren Group says 1,313 foreclosure deeds were recorded in Massachusetts last month, compared with 628 in June 2009.