Foreclosure petitions in October were down 53.3 percent compared to a year earlier, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

A total of 447 petitions were filed in October, compared to 958 in October 2016. Petitions are the first entry in the public record in the foreclosure process, when lenders file a notice of intention to foreclose with the Land Court.

Year to date, the state has seen 8,434 total petitions filed, down 19.9 percent from the 10,530 filed over the first 10 months of 2016.

“Petitions have now fallen nine out of the last ten months with October seeing the largest year-over-year decline,” Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “In fact, October petitions slid so significantly, that they’re now at levels unseen since February 2014.”

Statewide there were 624 foreclosure auctions scheduled in October, an increase of 10.3 percent from October 2016, when there were 566 auctions scheduled. An auction is scheduled through legal advertising in local newspapers with the lender giving the time, date and address for the auction to take place.

Despite the year-over-year increase, the year to date total number of auctions declined significantly, falling 15.8 percent with a total of 6,234 auction companies to 7,400 through October 2016.

There were 423 foreclosure deeds recorded in October, a 22.8 percent decrease from the 548 recorded in October 2016. These deeds represent completed foreclosures, when lenders put the change in ownership of the foreclosed property in the public record at registries of deeds.

Year to date, the state filed 4,865 total deeds, down 7.5 percent from the 5,261 filed over the same period in 2016.