April recording statistics

The statistical malaise in the real estate market continued through April with the overall number of documents recorded down by 30% from April of 2013.  Deeds were down 15%, declining from 582 in April 2013 to 497 in April 2014; mortgages were down 48%, declining from 1290 to 669; foreclosure deeds were down 26%, declining from 19 to 14; but orders of notice were up 41%, rising from 27 to 38.

While the year-to-year comparisons show a decline in recordings, month-to-month statistics in 2014 show that April was slightly up in most categories.  For overall documents recorded, it was the first month in 2014 that exceeded 4000 (we recorded 4227 with January at 3919 being the next busiest).  Also, it was the first time that the number of mortgages recorded in the month exceeded 600 - 669 to be exact with March's 593 the next busiest mortgage month.  The number of deeds recorded has been more consistent - consistently low, unfortunately.  One troublesome sign is the spike in the number of orders of notice which signal the start of a new foreclosure proceeding.  In April there were 38 orders of notice while March had 19, February had 25, and January had just 14.