Warren Group

Academic staff and graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate in Cambridge will gain access to records for research from The Warren Group.

Foreclosure petitions across Middlesex County fell by 40 percent in February, according to a report Monday by Boston real estate statistics firm The Warren Group.

Foreclosure petitions across Worcester County fell by 46 percent in February, according to a report Monday by The Warren Group.

Home prices rose last month but the number of sales fell sharply, according to new data released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

Although Massachusetts foreclosure starts were down for the fifth straight month in comparison to last year, the number in Worcester County increased 5 percent, according to Boston real estate data firm The Warren Group.

It ranks 47th in affordability, but when more than 60 other metrics were applied Massachusetts emerged as the best state in the country, according to rankings released on Tuesday.

Foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts declined 29.9 percent in December, compared to December 2015, according to a press release from The Warren Group on Tuesday.

Foreclosure starts in Worcester County fell 18.1 percent in November, reflecting a statewide slowdown of petitions in the later months of 2016.

The MetroWest region saw overall year-over-year increases in sales of both single family homes and condominiums in November.

A day after Warren Group analysts announced near-record home sales and sale prices for the month of November, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that the inventory of homes for sale last month hit its lowest level since the trade group began tracking the basic metric in January 2004.