Mid-month statistics

The number of key documents we recorded in August was down from both August of last year and from July of this year, so we're keeping close watch on the trends in September.  Thus far, there's nothing bad to report (although there's nothing all that good, either).  Here are the numbers for Lowell for the period of September 1 through September 18, for both 2012 and 2013.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 59 deeds recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 70 - an increase of 19%.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 108 mortgages recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 115 - an increase of 7%.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 9 foreclosure deeds recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were 2.

In the first part of September 2012, there were 7 orders of notice recorded for Lowell; for the same time in 2013, there were none.

Revenue

The registry of deeds collects a variety of recording fees, surcharges and taxes and passes them all along to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  We've always closely tracked our revenue for accounting purposes but only recently started scrutinizing these numbers as statistical indicators of the direction of the local real estate market. 

For the eight month period from January through August, our total revenue for 2013 is up 10% from 2012 ($8,505,624 vs $9,342,591).

For the same time, recording fees (which are included in the "total" above) were up 4% ($3,416,781 vs $3,538,245).

For the same time, tax stamps, which are calculated on the sales price of property, are up 17% ($3,723,022 vs $4,364,727)

Banning cell phones in courthouses

The Globe yesterday reported on a growing trend in Massachusetts of courthouses imposing outright bans on the carrying of cell phones within the building (the ban does not apply to courthouse employees or lawyers).  Most of the courts mentioned in the article were District Courts which are busier and more crowded than the typical superior court.  The stated reason for the ban is to prevent people from taking photos or videos of witnesses, police officers, and prosecutors and then posting the images online in an attempt to intimidate these people.  When reading the article, however, it's apparent that some of the judges welcome the ban because of an inability to control the use of phones within courtrooms.

Coincidentally, this building is in the second week of a temporary ban on cell phones that was imposed by one of the judges due to a high profile murder trial that is underway, Commonwealth v Shelley, a long-unsolved case from the late 1960s.  The judge's concern for this case was no so much intimidation of witnesses but of great media interest that might motivate some to inadvertently disrupt proceedings.  Because of the ubiquitousness of cell phones in American life, this ban creates frequent confrontations at the security checkpoint at the entrance to the building.  Those with cell phones cannot "check" them at the entrance.  Instead, they have to leave them somewhere outside which, if one has a car in the vicinity, is only a minor inconvenience but if someone walked or got a ride here, it presents a real dilemma of where to put the phone.

Hopefully the ban in this building will end with the current trial since it creates a major inconvenience for many individuals doing business within the building.

Electronic recording stats for August

Electronic recording continues to be a growing part of registry operations, accounting for 37% of all documents recorded in August (of 5785 documents recorded, 2136 were recorded electronically).  This is a daily average of 263 documents with 97 of them being recorded electronically.  For the year-to-date (January through August), we have recorded a total of 47,859 documents of which 18,581 were recorded electronically (39%).

For deeds, 4640 have been recorded thus far in 2013 of which 1334 or 29% were recorded electronically.  For mortgages, 9987 have been recorded thus far of which 5225 or 52% were recorded electronically.

As for which days have the highest volume of business, Fridays remain our busiest day in terms of total documents recorded.  On Friday, August 30 we recorded 357 documents; on Friday, August 23 we recorded 355 documents; and on Friday, August 2 we recorded 320 documents.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days for electronic recording.  Our three top electronic recording days in August were Thursday, August 15 with 120 efiles; Wednesday, August 14 with 115 efiles; and Thursday, August 22 with 115 efiles.  Percentage-wise, the top efile days were Wednesday, August 14 with 48% of our documents being recorded; Thursday, August 8 also with 48%; and Wednesday, August 21 with 46%.     

August recording statistics

Here are some recording statistics from the month of August and year-to-date, both compared to the same period in 2012.

For August:

The number of deeds recorded was up 5%, rising from 608 in August 2012 to 639 in August 2013.
The number of mortgages was down 31%, declining from 1572 to 1085.
The number of foreclosure deeds was down 63%, declining from 30 to 11.
The number of orders of notice was down 65%, declining from 111 to 39.
The total number of documents recorded was down 14%, declining from 6864 to 5917.

For the year to date through the end of August:

The number of deeds was up 17%, rising from 3960 in the first eight months of 2012 to 4640 in the first eight months of 2013.
The number of mortgages was up 1%, rising from 9913 to 9987.
The number of foreclosure deeds was down 60%, declining from 272 to 110.
The number of orders of notice was down 51%, declining from 550 to 267.
The total number of documents was up 4%, rising from 46,404 to 48,170.