The number of homes reaching the auction stage of the foreclosure cycle by banks holding the owners' mortgages has increased for the fourth month in a row. (Run-on sentence???)

Warren Group said the number of foreclosure auctions scheduled for April reached 1,712, the highest since the early 1990s and up from 1,111 in March.

Meanwhile, the number of new foreclosure proceedings initiated by lenders against Massachusetts homeowners decreased in April, the second monthly decline, the Warren Group said. Lenders initiated 2,005 foreclosures in April, down from 2,139 in March and 2,242 in February.

Source: More face auction of homes - By Kimberly Blanton, The Boston Globe

Also: Home auctions quadruple: Bay State has 1,712 ads in April - By Jerry Kronenberg, The Boston Herald