Preview of end-of-June stats

It's early, but today presents a good opportunity to gauge how our recording stats for this June look in comparison to the same time last year. We still have three (presumably) very busy days to go, so the final month's numbers will be higher. That said, there are two very visible differences. First, the number of mortgages recorded this June will be quite a bit lower than were recorded last June. Anecdotal evidence corroborates this: many attorneys tell me that overly strict standards by lenders are scuttling many deals which could account for the decline in mortgages. Certainly it's not a function of interest rates which are still at historically low levels. The other negative item of note is the number of foreclosure deeds: Last June for the district there were only 24; thus far this month there have already been 51 with the increase primarily in the district's nine towns (Lowell went from 19 to 22 but the nine towns jumped from 5 to 29). The good news is that orders of notice have dropped significantly (from 61 to 36) perhaps signaling a slowdown in future foreclosures. The number of deeds recorded has remained stable which is another good sign.

Please check back this coming Thursday morning (July 1) when we'll post the final June statistics.

REMINDER: The Independence Day holiday is officially observed on Monday, July 5, so the courthouse and the registry of deeds will both be closed that day.