July foreclosures drop; hit low for 2012

Fewer foreclosure deeds were recorded in New Hampshire in July than any other month so far this year, but more were recorded in 2012 than in the same month in 2011.There were 269 foreclosure deeds recorded in the state in July, the fewest that have been filed in a single month since October 2011, according to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. July also saw the third monthly decline in a row for the current year, from the year-to-date high of 384 foreclosures in April.

However, the number of foreclosures in July represents a 13 percent year-over-year increase from the 238 deeds that were filed in July 2011.Cumulatively for the first seven months of the year, the number of foreclosure filings fell only slightly this year from last year. Through July 2012, there have been 2,298 foreclosure deeds recorded in New Hampshire — about 2 percent less than the 2,338 filed in the same period in 2011, and down 9 percent from the 2,534 in the same period of 2010, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, July foreclosure auction notices, which provide an up-to-date picture of the number of households that are in serious danger of foreclosure, increased both from the previous month and the previous year, the agency said.

Foreclosure auction notices totaled 599 in July, up 6.6 percent from the 562 recorded in June and almost 13 percent more than were recorded in July 2011.In the long term, however, the authority pointed out, foreclosure auction notice activity has declined significantly from its record highs in 2010, when 809 notices were recorded a month on average, compared to 629 notices on average per month in the first seventh months of 2012 — a 22 percent decline.

It also reported that through the second quarter of 2012, about 2.4 percent of all homes with mortgages in New Hampshire are in the foreclosure process, a rate that "remains very near its record high," though it is below the New England average of 3.9 percent and the U.S. average of 4.3 percent.

At the current pace of foreclosure deed recordings, the agency said it could take more than 18 months to clear the inventory in the state without any new foreclosure initiations.