Foreclosures Drop in Medford, Bucking State Trends

Only three foreclosure petitions were recorded in Medford last month, down from 12 in August 2011, according to recently released data.

Year-to-date, there have been a total of 53 foreclosure petitions in Medford, one fewer than the same time period last year, according to data from real estate publisher The Warren Group. That bucks state trends, as foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts have significantly risen compared to this time last year. A total of 12,079 foreclosure petitions have been initiated so far in Massachusetts this year, up from 8,253 petitions through August 2011, according to the data.

But not all news is bad on the state level. August had the fewest foreclosures in Massachusetts this year, according to the data. And comparing the 2011 data is difficult, since many efforts were made to slow down foreclosures last year, Banker and Tradesman Editor Cory Hopkins said in a statement.

"Foreclosure starts are close to exceeding the total amount in all of 2011 - a seemingly bad sign," Hopkins said in the statement. "However, we're comparing to a slow year when banks nearly halted their foreclosure proceedings. I don't think this is cause for much alarm, but something to keep an eye on as foreclosures petitions are often a leading indicator of activity to come."