Foreclosure filings go through the roof

The Boston Herald reports:

Foreclosure filings in Massachusetts last year were up 34 percent through November, compared to the prior year, data show, and the net effect of the spike is that many first-time homeowners are hearing the words “gimme your shelter.”
The number of foreclosure filings through November was nearly 10,500, according to the ForeClosuresMass.com Web site. Essex County had a 49 percent increase over the same period in 2004, while Suffolk, Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable counties all had increases of more than 42 percent.
In the last six months, the site states, Boston had 483 foreclosures.
One reason is that home prices in Massachusetts have appreciated 67 percent in the past five years, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. October’s median selling price for a single-family home in the state was $349,000 — up from about $210,000 in 2000.

A trend to watch in Massachusetts.