by Calculated Risk on 7/25/2006 10:27:00 AM

The Boston Globe reports: Foreclosure filings in Mass. jump 66%

Foreclosure filings in Massachusetts increased 66 percent in the second quarter, according to data released yesterday, a trend that is expected to continue over the next year.

Mortgage lenders filed 4,292 notices of foreclosure against homeowners during the second quarter, up from 2,585 a year earlier, according to ForeclosuresMass Corp., which compiles the data from Massachusetts Land Court. That 66 percent surge in filings compares with a 30 percent rise in first-quarter filings.

The state's rate of past-due mortgages -- the number of homeowners more than 30 days behind in their payments, as a percent of total mortgages -- is 3 percent, compared with 4 percent nationwide, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Lenders have filed for foreclosure on 0.6 percent of Massachusetts mortgages, below the 1 percent national rate.

But, Jeremy Shapiro, the president of ForeclosuresMass, said he was alarmed about the pace of Massachusetts' sharp recent increases.

``The foreclosures in Massachusetts right now are skyrocketing," he said. ``This is a problem that's going to extend through 2007 and 2008."