The number of foreclosures initiated in Massachusetts jumped 28.1 percent in 2009 to 27,928 from 21,804 in 2008 but was 5.5 percent below the level in 2007, according to the latest report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The number of completed foreclosures, meanwhile, declined 25.4 percent to 9,269 last year from 12,430 in 2008 but was still 21.1 percent ahead of the 7,653 foreclosures recorded two years earlier.

"The good news is that not as many homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure in 2009 as they did the prior year. The bad news is that more people faced foreclosure, as they struggled with unemployment and other economic hardships," said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. "Efforts to modify mortgage loans and a Massachusetts Land Court decision which forced some lenders to hold back on recording foreclosure deeds or to restart them after proper mortgage assignments have been made helped to temper foreclosure activity last year."

Foreclosure petitions — the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts — reached 2,060 in December, a 6.4 percent increase from 1,937 in November and 26.8 percent higher than the 1,625 petitions filed in December 2008. The number of foreclosure petitions exceeded 2,000 for most months in 2009, falling below that number only in January and November.

In December, there were 857 foreclosure deeds, a 22 percent jump from November’s 702 deeds but an 8.4 percent drop from the 936 deeds recorded in December 2008. Foreclosure deeds represent completed foreclosures. Foreclosure deeds fluctuated throughout the year, peaking at 978 in January.

The Warren Group also tracked slightly more auction announcements in 2009. A total of 19,441 auction announcements were tracked in 2009, a 0.9 percent increase from 19,270 in 2008. Auction announcements in December totaled 1,931, a 13.3 percent drop from 2,226 in November but a 60.1 percent jump from 1,206 during the same month in 2008.