Last modified: Thursday, May 1, 2008 9:11 AM EDT Foreclosures jump again BY RICK FOSTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Foreclosures jumped again in the Attleboro area in March as the state's foreclosure statistics hit the highest level since 2005, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. "The number of people losing their homes to foreclosure shows no sign of abating," said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. "Nearly 3,000 homeowners in the Bay State fell victim to foreclosure during the first quarter of the year." The number of foreclosure deeds issued for properties in Attleboro more than doubled from 5 to 12, while the number of petitions to foreclose leaped from 63 to 83. The number of foreclosures declined or stayed the same in Foxboro, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norfolk, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Wrentham. In Norton, four foreclosure deeds were issued in March, up from one in March, 2007. Foreclosure deeds rose 140.1 percent in March when compared to March 2007. There were 1,167 deeds this year, compared to 486 in March 2007. There were also 35.7 percent more foreclosure deeds in March 2008 than in February 2008, when there were 860. Deeds filed in the first quarter of the year numbered 2,827, 138.4 percent more than the 1,186 filed during the same time period in 2007. Petitions to foreclosure in March rose 33.3 percent, with 2,918 filed in March 2008 compared with 2,189 filed in March 2007. In the first quarter, there were 8,968 petitions filed, 39.5 percent more than the 6,429 filed in the first quarter of 2007. Petitions to foreclose do not always end in actual foreclosure. Some homeowners eventually sell their homes, refinance or otherwise find a way to halt the foreclosure. "The last time more than 1,000 foreclosure deeds were filed during one month was in August 2007, when 1,018 were filed," Warren said. "We hoped that represented something of a peak, but March's numbers have shown us that Massachusetts' foreclosure problems continue to worsen. With steady increases in petitions, I don't see this problem going away anytime soon." Foreclosure auction announcements also rose in March, with 2,028 announcements, 85.5 percent more than the 1,093 in March 2007. First quarter auction announcements were up 61.2 percent from 3,082 to 4,968. RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.