For first half of year, N.H. foreclosures hit six-year low

At the current pace, the state is likely to end the year with fewer foreclosures than have been seen in the past five years

The number of foreclosures recorded in New Hampshire declined in June from both the previous month and the same month last year, bringing foreclosure activity for the first half of the year to the lowest it has been since 2007.

There were 209 foreclosure deeds recorded in the state in June, a 23 percent decrease from the 271 recorded in May and a 37 percent decrease from the 331 in June 2012.

Only April saw fewer foreclosures this year, when there were 192 recorded, according to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, which tracks and publishes the figures each month.

For the first six months of 2013, there have been 1,478 foreclosure deeds recorded in New Hampshire, the fewest since 2007. That’s a 27 percent decline from the same period in 2012, when 2,029 were recorded.

'Slow but steady'

At the current pace, the state is likely to end the year with fewer foreclosures than have been seen in the past five years, the authority said. It attributed the improvement to “slow but steady improvements in the housing market and the overall economy,” as well as changing lender attitudes toward short sales and other alternatives to foreclosure.

Foreclosure auction notices, which give an up-to-date idea of how many households have fallen seriously behind on mortgage payments, also declined in June from May and from June 2012. There were 379 foreclosure auction notices in June 2013, down 4 percent from May (when there were 395) and 33 percent from last June.

For the first six months of the year, there have been 31 percent fewer foreclosure auction notices than there were during the first half of 2012. At its peak in 2010, there were 809 notices recorded on average per month; in the first half of 2013, there have been 438 notices per month on average, a decline of 46 percent, the authority noted.