Foreclosed Home Auctions May See Leaner Inventory

New data recently released suggest that foreclosed home auctions may be in for a leaner inventory as fewer properties were seized by lenders in February. Home seizures have been down recently and many think that such is due to an improving economy.

Warren Group discloses that petitions for foreclosures were down by 67 percent in February this year compared to last year’s number of petitions filed in court. A foreclosure petition is the first step that a lender takes when instituting a foreclosure action.

The group also said that the number of foreclosure deeds that were drawn up in the same period fell to 44 percent than last year’s figures.

These figures suggest that buyers in a foreclosed home auction in Boston may have to settle with diminished inventory as the rate of overall home seizures dropped in the state.

The improved numbers are attributed to a favorable economic outlook with the state offering more jobs to people and a dropping unemployment rate. Analysts say that the economy is showing strong signs of recovery as homeowners are somehow finding ways to keep their homes and avoid foreclosure.

The brightening economy may be causing fewer properties to end up in a foreclosed home auction in Massachusetts. But housing advocates are also skeptical over the long term effects on troubled borrowers.

They note that while home seizure rates may be down at the moment, there is no assurance that the situation will become more of a pattern than the exception. While lenders seemed to have cooled off from foreclosing properties, there is still general concern that troubled homeowners are still left with little or no alternatives with respect to permanently avoiding foreclosures.

Many banks have implemented foreclosure moratoriums amid allegations of improper procedures but many have since lifted the same and resumed their operations.

Many people believe that while there are now fewer foreclosed home auctions being held in the state, the reality is that the same is not due to banks charitable spirit in helping homeowners overcome their foreclosure woes.

But at least for the meantime, schedules of foreclosed home auctions have now diminished and significantly by almost 70 percent than the number of those held in the same period last year.

A consumer protection group stresses that there are still many families and borrowers who are waiting for the approval of their loan modification applications and expresses concern that lenders may just be biding their time and strategizing on their actions before they start seizing homes again.

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