BOSTON – The number of foreclosure deeds and auction announcements in Massachusetts dipped from October to November but still rose compared with the same month a year ago, as petitions to foreclose fell sharply over both periods, The Warren Group reported today.

Statewide, 880 foreclosure deeds were filed in November – a decline of 11.6 percent from October’s 996 deeds but an increase of 37.9 percent from the 638 recorded in the penultimate month of 2007 – giving the Bay State its third consecutive month with fewer than 1,000 foreclosure completions.

Likewise, a total of 1,134 auction announcements were recorded last month – a 28.6-percent decline from October’s 1,588 but a 27.9-percent increase from November 2007’s 887.

Meanwhile, lenders’ petitions to foreclose plunged to a November total of 1,335 filings that was 31.8-percent below October’s revised 2,065 petitions and 50.9-percent below the year-ago 2,721.

“Efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis may have pushed lenders to take a step back and postpone [such actions],” the real estate data publisher’s CEO, Timothy Warren Jr., said in a statement this afternoon. “Some lenders are working harder to pursue loan modifications,” he added. “But unfortunately, even with these modifications, many homeowners still face an uphill battle to hold onto their homes.”

In the first 11 months of 2008, the state recorded 11,486 foreclosure deeds, an increase of 64.8 percent from the same period of 2007, The Warren Group said. Year-to-date auction announcements rose to 18,064, an increase of 34.2 percent. But year-to-date filings of foreclosure petitions fell to 20,179, a 24.8-percent decline from the year-ago 26,848, the publisher reported.

By comparison, 7,653 foreclosure deeds were filed in Massachusetts in all of 2007, 3,086 in 2006 and 1,092 in all of 2005, the publisher reported last January. (READ MORE) “Many more people will lose their homes in 2008,” Warren had predicted at the time, “and regulators, mortgage lenders and lawmakers need to continue to find solutions to the problem.”

The Warren Group Inc. is a provider of New England real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and other journals. Additional information is available at www.TheWarrenGroup.com.