It’s quiet, today.

There’s only so much you (meaning, me) can write about foreclosures, subprime lending, and the state of the real estate market.

A couple interesting facts buried in all the minutiae out there.

* While national home sales volume is down from highs seen two-to-three years ago, over 5 million homes will change hands this year. The majority will be transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers, not foreclosures (I think foreclosures make up 4% of the total, but can’t find the data).

* While the number of foreclosures continues to rise, every month, it was interesting that the Warren Group announced today that October was the first month in recent memory where fewer “petitions to foreclose” were filed.

Lenders initiated fewer foreclosures in October. The number of foreclosure petitions filed by lenders fell 33.3 percent to 1,507 in October from 2,258 in September.

Foreclosure petitions were also down 50.8 percent from a year earlier when 3,065 petitions were filed in October 2007. A total of 18,286 petitions to foreclose have been filed during the first 10 months of the year, down 24.2 percent from 24,127 during the same months in 2007.

It’s interesting that petitions slowed down. In the spring, foreclosures dropped in Massachusetts because the state government put a 90-day moratorium on new filings.

The increase in September could have been built up “demand” for foreclosures, whereas October dropped, but only to its “regular” level. Or, it could be that loan workouts are happening more than what you read about in the papers (but I don’t think that would make sense, since “petitions” probably take place before the workouts begin). Or, it could be that lenders are worn out from all the work involved, and are taking a breather, and/or are waiting for new bailout plans to be proposed.

Or, it could be that there is just a limit to how many people are going to lose their homes. Remember, approximately 40% of homes in foreclosures are “investor-owned”; maybe the investors who can’t make it have moved on.

Or, it could be just a momentary drop.

* The Warren Group foreclosures press release also included this data:

Urban areas continue to be most affected by the foreclosure crisis. Worcester (76), Springfield (50), Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood (41), Brockton (37) and Lawrence (36) had the most foreclosure deeds in October.

There were 993 foreclosure deeds filed in October. Of these, 24% were in the towns and cities listed above.