By Aglaia Pikounis

I caught a report on NBC Nightly News last night highlighting a burgeoning new business: cleaning up vacant foreclosed homes. Apparently, these clean-up companies are springing up all over the country. The report showed crews clearing out books, couches, lamps, blankets and other personal belongings from abandoned homes in Big Bear, California – an area that is being referred to as foreclosure alley. 

All of this got me thinking to what’s happening here in the Bay State. Massachusetts hasn’t had the level of foreclosures that has plagued states like California or Nevada. And a lot of the foreclosures have been concentrated in urban areas like Dorchester, Brockton and Springfield. But it wasn’t Dorchester, Brockton and Springfield that saw the biggest percentage jumps in foreclosures last year.

 Some folks might be surprised to learn that foreclosure activity surged in some smaller communities – like Milford, Marlborough, Methuen and Framingham. In Milford, foreclosure activity more than tripled last year compared to 2007 – jumping to 92 from 28. Framingham, Methuen and Marlborough had more than double the foreclosures in 2008 as the previous year. And it seems in some of these towns, a significant number of condo owners are the ones being evicted. In Framingham, 85 of 189 foreclosures (or 45 percent) were of condo properties. And of the 157 foreclosures in Marlborough, 60 were of condo units.

 Some experts are saying that the worst is over, but sadly, others are predicting that there’s another wave of foreclosures coming.