Lowell Deeds

It’s the first day of Fall and also the end of three weeks of September which makes it a good time to look at our recording statistics for this month. We’ve recorded a total of 3094 documents so far this month, a decrease of 19% from the 3804 we recorded in the first three weeks of September 2006. The number of mortgages recorded during the same period this year and last is down even more – 26% - going from 980 in 2006 to 727 this year. Deeds were down, but not as much. There were 316 in 2006 and 272 in 2007, a 14% slide. As is typical of the past year, foreclosure deeds and orders of notice were both up substantially. Orders of notice, which signify the start of a foreclosure proceeding, rose from 21 in 2006 to 39 in 2007, an increase of 86%. The number of foreclosure deeds increased even more: 12 in 2006 nearly doubled to 23 in 2007, an increase of 92%. Again, this is just a snapshot comparison of the past three weeks with the same time next year. If you check back next Friday, I will have a similar comparison for the entire month.