Lowell Deeds

A comparison of the number of key document types recorded in June of 2009 with those recorded in June 2008 yield some interesting statistics:

For the entire Middlesex North District,

Deeds - down 3%, from 542 to 527
Mortgages – up 54%, from 1044 to 1602
Foreclosure Deeds – done 56%, from 54 to 24
Orders of Notice – down 15%, from 72 to 61

For the city of Lowell,

Deeds – down 15%, from 171 to 146
Mortgages – up 6%, from 281 to 299
Foreclosure Deeds – down 47%, from 36 to 19
Orders of Notice – down 13%, from 38 to 33

The two numbers that I find most encouraging are the surge in the number of mortgages being recorded – an indication that more and more homeowners are able to refinance – and the number of orders of notice being down slightly. In our May to May comparison, while the number of foreclosure deeds was down by a dramatic 70+%, the number of orders of had climbed by more than 30%, suggesting that a new wave of foreclosures might be on the way. The June to June decline in this document type indicates that the May increase was probably just an anomaly.