December foreclosures fall

The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority said there were 203 foreclosed deeds recorded in the state in December 2010, an encouraging 11 percent drop from November, and a significant 36 percent decrease from December 2009.December was also the third consecutive month for a month-over-month decrease.All this good news makes the authority cautiously optimistic.”This may be an indicator of an improvement in conditions or it may be the result of moratoria or delays in foreclosure actions by servicers. The first-quarter 2011 data will provide a clearer indication of this trend,” the authority said.But the authority also said the number of foreclosures traditionally drop during the holiday season, not to mention the decision by several banks to hold off on foreclosures related to the “robo-signing” controversy.”The decline in foreclosure activity over the past quarter is largely attributable to the moratoria on foreclosure proceedings announced by several large mortgage lenders at the end of September,” the authority said.One area of concern — auction notices rose 6.5 percent in December to 734, from 689 in November. Still, this is the second fewest notices posted in 2010 behind November’s numbers.Again, the “robo-signing” issue causing the hold of foreclosures in September is again cited as being behind the drop. – CINDY KIBBE/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW