In fact, half of the units at Greenway Place, a newly renovated 12-unit, eight-story historic building, have gone into foreclosure, at least briefly, over the past two years. Such troubles are unusual in Boston’s downtown market, which has largely been cushioned from the rash of foreclosures that have plagued Massachusetts since home prices starting falling in 2005.

This year, however, foreclosure activity for downtown condos has started to edge upward. Petitions, the first step in the process of a lender taking back a property, have swelled to 46 for during the first five months of the year, compared with 30 during the same period last year, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks real estate data. Petitions have been attached to some of the city’s most deluxe addresses over the past year, including the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Towers and the Residences at the Intercontinental, according to the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds.

Completed foreclosures occur less frequently but also have increased slightly. Downtown condo owners lost eight properties to foreclosure during the first five months of 2010, compared with six during the same period last year, according to Warren Group. In May, a buyer purchased a foreclosed unit in Folio Boston, a luxury condo complex, for $650,000 — about $275,000 less than it sold for in 2006. Another unit in the Greenway Place was taken back by a lender this month and quickly resold for $699,000.

Whether these foreclosures represent a blip in time or a sign of what’s to come is up to debate, local real estate professionals say.

Kevin Ahearn, president of the Boston marketing and brokerage company Otis & Ahearn, said a bump up in the number of foreclosure petitions on high-end condos is the result of financial troubles among wealthy homeowners that likely will soon ebb because investment portfolios have stabilized. He said sales and prices in the high-end market are on the increase this year.

“It is a delayed reaction,’’ Ahearn said. “You are on an upswing now.’’

Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network, a Boston company that tracks downtown real estate, said troubles at Greenway Place are unique to the building — it’s a boutique building on the fringe of the financial district that offers no parking or concierge services. “Fundamentally, I feel the downtown condo market is on rock solid footing,’’ Taylor Blair said.

Other market watchers are not so sure. Jon Gollinger, East Coast chief executive of Accelerated Marketing Partners, a Boston company that runs auctions for high-end buildings nationwide, said Boston’s downtown likely will see more foreclosures as wealthy people struggle with job loss and declining home values.

“It’s inevitable,’’ he said.

Greenway Place, located at 199 State St., across from the Marriott Long Wharf, appears to have had more than its share of troubles. The building was touted by developers in 2005 as a “hidden jewel’’ once overshadowed by the Central Artery. When the thoroughfare was dismantled as part of the Big Dig, the building was converted from office space into deluxe residential units with lofty price tags ranging from $1.3 million to $2.9 million.

But the building’s launch in 2005 coincided with the start of the state’s housing market downfall. Developer Richard Tambone was unable to sell five of the 12 units, and they eventually fell into foreclosure. Several owners stopped paying their condo fees, and lawsuits mounted.

Under financial pressure, Tambone sold three units at auction in 2008 and another in June for $640,000 in a short sale, a process in which the lender agrees to a price less than the mortgage balance. Tambone’s last remaining unit, with an original price tag of $1.8 million, was foreclosed upon by Bank of America Corp. this month and sold days later to a new owner for $699,000, public records show.

Tambone, president of Tambone Investment Group in Burlington, said he was a victim of bad timing as condo values in the area fell precipitously. Despite the problems, he said, he is still “very proud’’ of the building and continues to tout the project on his company’s website. He maintains that unlike some developers who abandoned struggling projects in recent years, he has worked with lenders to sell the remaining units. He said the lawsuits, including one from a lender and another from disgruntled investors, have been settled.

“So many other developers walked away,’’ Tambone said. “You can’t control the economy.’’

Christos Christoudias, a Greenway Place condo trustee, is optimistic about the future of the building, which is surrounded by good restaurants and is within walking distance to the harbor. Christoudias said he bought his unit in 2007 for 25 percent less than the initial asking price. When he moved in, fees were too high and many owners were delinquent in making payments, Christoudias said. The association eliminated the concierge, reduced monthly dues, and started collection procedures against owners who weren’t paying.

“It’s finally all figured out,’’ he said. “Now we have a surplus of condo fees.’’

But another owner, investor Ryan Connelly, is probably not so upbeat about the building. Connelly bought the second-floor unit at a foreclosure auction in 2008 for $901,000, according to the unit deed. Even after making major improvements, including the golden flooring, he has yet to find a buyer, according to listing broker Herion Karbunara. In May, the unit fell back into foreclosure and is now listed for $1.4 million — $1.2 million less than it was marketed for in 2008.

Connelly did not respond to requests for an interview, but Karbunara said the lowered price “breaks his heart.’’

“Once a building gets a bad rap, it’s very hard to clean it up, especially if it’s small,’’ he said. “I feel good about the building. I feel like it turned around.’’

“We’re marketing these properties locally, regionally and nationally to alert interested parties of the sales scheduled to start on June 21^st and run through the 29^th,” says Thomas Saturley, President of Tranzon Auction Properties. “We’re very pleased to be offering these properties, I spent quite a few professional years in the gasoline trades, so station sales are near and dear to my heart.”

Brecht Palombo, of Tranzon Auction Properties’ Massachusetts office, notes that the sales offer a unique opportunity for entrepreneurial buyers to get started in the gasoline business, or for established players to add to their existing portfolio of locations. “The calls started the minute we put these up on the website,” says Palombo. “Folks had been looking at these stores since they shut down earlier this year. Acquiring these at auction provides a solid opportunity to purchase at a fair price, and buyers are interested.”

For a complete list of properties, please visit www.cstoreauction.com

Got Space? Got Land? Got Privacy? You will if you move here! Fantastic North Middleboro location. This house has it all. Perfect for extended family living. Farmers Porch, Master bath features Steam Bath and Jacuzzi Tub. Huge bonus room over garage w/reinforced beams will keep everyone entertained. 2 central air units, huge inviting foyer, beautiful cabinets in kitchen, wrap around porch, 4 bedrooms, and 3 full baths. Lots of frontage. Lots of privacy. Not your typical cookie cutter postage lot.

The status of the 120-acre parcel has been uncertain since late 2009, when bankers foreclosed on plans to build The Commons at Prospect Hill, an ambitious development of offices, shops, and restaurants, on the site.

Yesterday, Park said he’s planning a more modest mixed-use office and retail development for the site, with about a third less density than was planned by the previous developer. Specifically, Park said he would like to see a corporate headquarters, a department store, and a mix of national and local retailers.

Park said he bought the property because of its “prominence on 128, in the epicenter of technology outside Boston,’’ adding that he thinks “real estate prices have reached rock bottom, and we’re poised for an upturn.’’

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy of Waltham said she’s pleased with the new buyer, adding this is a great opportunity to deal with major traffic issues because Park has traffic design experience. “I’m happy with the fact that [Park] understands first-hand the problems,’’ said McCarthy.

The property was sold by German bank Helaba and PB Capital, which seized it in October, after bidding $42.5 million for the 120-acre site at a foreclosure auction.

Park & Co. also has been planning a development across Route 128 from the Polaroid site for more than eight years, but yesterday Park said he plans to develop the Polaroid property first.

“My hope is that we will be able to develop a traffic plan for the Polaroid site that will work with the development we’ve been working on across 128,’’ he said.

Park said he was planning “a phased development,’’ and was eager to get the project going.

“I’d like to get something started this summer,’’ he said.

But there is a flurry of signs, some national, and one local, that we just might be finally reaching a turning point.

On the macro level, the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgages actually fell in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Friday.

Mortgages either 30 or 60 days past due fell in the fourth quarter compared to both the third quarter of 2009 and the last three months of 2008 as well.

Meanwhile, a few government officials appear to be finally getting the idea the time is past for fancy sounding initiatives with big numbers that, when push comes to shove, just don’t work.

The Obama Administration is sending $1.5 billion to five states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, namely Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona and Michigan. The money will be used to do everything from bail out underwater homeowners to help the jobless pay their mortgages.

That has got to be more effective than all those silly loan modifications.

And locally, the number of foreclosed homes sitting empty in neighborhoods across Boston is also starting to fall markedly.At one point, there were nearly 1,200 foreclosure specials out there in neighborhoods like Dorchester, Roxbury, East Boston and Mattapan.

That number has since plunged to 778, Evelyn Friedman, head of the Department of Neighborhood Development, tells me.

City Hall has either purchased or put under agreement 120 foreclosed homes, which it plans to resell to local nonprofit housing organizations, developers and individual homeowners.

“I would hope in the next two or three years we would be finished with the foreclosure problem here in Boston,” Friedman said.

Bold words yes, but backed up with some real action.

Boston foreclosed homes for sale continue to rise in affluent suburbs as unemployment creeps into upscale communities, jumbo lending becomes restricted and property values fall to their lowest levels, based on data from real estate research company Warren Group.

In Nantucket, upscale houses priced at $1.6 million in 2008 were being sold off at $1.2 million in 2009. Partly because of this drop in values, 19 homes in the area went into foreclosure in 2009.

In Weston, where six million-dollar homes were foreclosed in 2009, homes priced at $1.5 million in 2007 were being sold off at $1.2 million in the latter part of 2009.

In Wellesley, nine upscale homes priced between $870,000 and $3.6 million have been thrown into the foreclosure process. Homes worth more than $1 million in 2007 are now priced at around $847,500. Because of the tightening of jumbo credit, flipping houses in this upscale community has become impossible, with home sales dropping from 315 units in 2008 to 267 units in 2009.

Bruce Marks, CEO of Jamaica Plain-based nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, said that for the first time, wealthy communities never touched by difficulties such as Freddie Mac foreclosures are experiencing what minority and low-income communities have been experiencing for many years.

Based on the Warren Group report, the number of Boston foreclosed homes for sale surged as delinquent mortgages in affluent suburbs tripled and quadrupled in number in 2009.

The numbers of foreclosed properties in the affluent suburbs of Concord, Nantucket, Winchester and Weston are small compared to the hundreds of foreclosures in lower-income communities like Springfield, Lynn and Worcester, but the occurrence of foreclosures in these wealthy enclaves show that the 8.8-percent jobless rate and the declining economy are affecting all communities.

Statewide, completed foreclosures dropped by nearly 27 percent in 2009 to 8,409 cases, but foreclosure petitions increased by almost 29 percent to 25,868, showing that many homeowners are still experiencing harrowing financial difficulties.

While foreclosures in lower income neighborhoods have slowed down, foreclosures in wealthy enclaves have surged. In Worcester, foreclosures fell by almost 37 percent. In Dorchester, the Boston area most battered by abandoned buildings and boarded-up homes, foreclosures fell by 41 percent.

Wealthier neighborhoods, in contrast, increased their foreclosure rates by three- to four-digit percentages. In Nantucket, for instance, foreclosures increased in 2009 by 1,800 percent.

The auction was held by Helaba, the German bank that holds the first mortgage on the property. Helaba itself ended up buying the site with a bid of $42.5 million.The only other bidder was the real estate investment firm The Bulfinch Companies of Needham, which offered $26 million.

The 119-acre property, which fronts Route 128, was owned by Watch City Development LLC, a joint venture between Polaroid and The Related Companies of New York, which intends to build a 1.7 million-square-foot office and retail complex at the site. Polaroid declared bankruptcy last year, and now that Helaba has bought the site, it’s unclear whether Watch City will be able to work out a deal to proceed with the development.

Officials from Polaroid did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Related declined to comment, as did Barry Braunstein, a lawyer representing Heleba.

Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy expressed relief that the property wasn’t scooped up by another developer. ‘‘I was pleased that the bank is the one that got it,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s not somebody completely new.’’

McCarthy said the site is ‘‘absolutely’’ important to Waltham, simply by virtue of its size. ‘‘It will have a major impact on the city no matter what goes in there,’’ she said.

Whoever develops the land, McCarthy said, should honor four commitments Watch City agreed to as part of the proposal: to make $45 million in traffic improvements, to preserve 20 acres of forest on the property, to convert a rail bed into a recreation trail, and to set aside part of the site for a potential direct connection to Route 128. She thinks the site can still be developed as planned at some point, despite the current weak real estate market, McCarthy said.

David Begelfer, CEO of the commercial real estate trade association NAIOP Massachusetts, agreed that the land could support a major development. ‘‘Someone may choose to scale it down and just get something started, but I think it does have the potential to be as large as originally planned,’’ Begelfer said. ‘‘The market will be coming back. When it does, properties like this will be the first to be developed.’’

Begelfer said Heleba may just let the property sit vacant for a couple of years until it can fetch a higher price. ‘‘There was a hope that someone could steal this property’’ with a low auction bid, Begelfer said. ‘‘Clearly, the bank was not going to allow the property to be stolen.’’

Inge Uhlir, who lives about a mile from the site, said neighbors are happy with the current plan and would fight any major changes. ‘‘If that’s ditched, there’s going to be a storm of opposition,’’ Uhlir said.

Jon Davis handles 10 percent of the state’s foreclosure auctions. The Marshfield lawyer has been watching these auctions migrate from places such as Dorchester and Lowell.

“Now you’ll see them in the Sudburys, the Hinghams and the Westons,” Davis said, “where you wouldn’t have in the past expected to see foreclosures.”

The reason for these auctions is not the crazy interest-rate mortgages. It’s the recession. Nowadays, people are losing their homes the way they used to before the sub-prime crisis.

“Historically, people lost their home when they lost their job, they lost their health or they lost their spouse,” says Nick Retsinas, a housing market economist at Harvard University.

Unemployment is to blame again today. The number of foreclosure proceedings in Massachusetts has jumped an alarming 150 percent.

In fact, people under foreclosure I talked to in Sudbury didn’t want to be interviewed for this story. They said they’re ashamed — to have lost their jobs; to have run out of savings; to not be able to make their payments.

Whitney Tilson, a Harvard Business School grad and money manager, said, “the number of distressed homes coming through the pipeline has actually never been greater than right now.”

Tilson says Sudbury is a good example of what this coming wave could do to the market. Only seven homes above $1,000,000 have sold in the town this year. Last year it was 43, and that was a bad year.

“The listed prices appear to show that prices are holding up, but that’s phony,” Tilson says. “So what breaks the logjam? The wave of foreclosures working their way through the pipeline.”

Foreclosed properties priced to sell will push housing prices down and push more homeowners under water and into foreclosure. And that could really hurt regional banks.

Unlike the sub prime mortgage crisis — which hammered national mortgage companies — in this instance, local banks carry more of these loans. When Massachusetts banks stand to lose as much as a few hundred thousand dollars a pop, they get more conservative about lending. Tilson says that will suppress economic recovery.

“This is something that’s going to be with us for a while,” he says. “There’s no real way to hurry it up. As Warren Buffet said you can’t get nine women pregnant and have a baby in one month.”

If we’re lucky, Tilson says, the housing market will bottom out next year.

Harvard economist Nick Restinas agrees it will take a while, but at least Massachusetts, which isn’t seeing as many foreclosures as other parts of the country, will be among the first places to get there.

“We take solace in the fact that we are still a growing population, people need a place to live,” Retsinas says. “And at some point people will make the calculation –- not so much is this home a good investment, but is this home worth living in?”

Which goes to say: Massachusetts residents will have to go to more housewarming parties, before they can start celebrating a healthy economic recovery.

BEVERLY, MASS. –  Gone, in less than two hours. Well, sort of.

In today’s 1 p.m. auction of the North Shore Music Theatre on Dunham Road in Beverly, Citizens Bank, the holder of the primary mortgage on the property, was the winning bidder, so to speak.

So, essentially, nothing has changed.

In a process that took less than two hours and included the reading of the lengthy, required legal notices — with a bit of wit by auctioneer Dan McLaughlin — the bank “bought back” the theater for just under $3.6 million when it was clear none of the other bidders were willing to go above $3.5 million.

Approximately 55 people, including bidders, media, former theater employees and volunteers and other interested citizens, gathered around the entrance of the building, where the auction was held. Everyone patiently waited for McLaughlin to read the legal notices pertaining to the property and also to the sale.

“Would anyone like me to repeat that,” McLaughlin asked the crowd when he finished what amounted to a tome.

McLaughlin opened the bidding at $5 million, but the first offer was for $1 million. It rose from there, but only to $3.5 million, at which point McLaughlin said, “Did we mention it’s right off Route 128?”

Citizens Bank Vice President Gavin Taylor, looking a little impatient, called out $3,599,099, sending a signal that anything less than $3.6 just wouldn’t do. However, no more bids were made.

After the auction, Taylor said he didn’t know what the bank, which foreclosed on the primary mortgage of $3.8 million, would do next. (There is also a mortgage for the smaller parcel, on which the restaurant sits.)

McLaughlin was pleased that there were a number of bidders for the auction.

But, he said, “I was hoping the bank was not going to end up with it.”

His prediction?

“They’ll sell it,” he said of Citizens. “They did not get what they thought the property was worth.”

The 54-year-old NSMT sits on 26.5 acres and is assessed at $12.5 million by the city for tax purposes. In addition to mortgages totaling about $5 million, NSMT owed an addition $5 million to other creditors, including approximately $2.5 million in season ticket payments made for the 2009 season from about 4,400 subscribers. Boston Culinary Group, which ran the theater’s food service, also has a $250,000 attachment on the property for unpaid bills.

While there are no outstanding taxes to be paid on the property, the city has a lien on it for about $1,800 in utility charges. Almost $9,000 in various charges are owed on the smaller parcel.