“Foreclosure activity in Massachusetts declined in February as a result of improving economic conditions and a revitalized real estate market,” the Boston Globe reported Tuesday. 

“A total of 856 foreclosure petitions were filed last month in the Bay State; that number was down 38 percent from the number in February 2012, said the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks local real estate activity. Foreclosure petitions are the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts.”

While Massachusetts foreclosure activity has been on the decline for a while, HousingWire reported in December that the sharp downward trend in foreclosure deed filings picked up after new state legislation slowed the entire process.