Mortgagee sales in January were lower than the month before, but still almost a third higher than in January 2009.
Data from property information company Terralink shows there were 196 registered mortgagee sales in January 2010, a drop from 252 in December.
In January 2009, 150 forces sales were recorded.
Terralink managing director Mike Donald says it is probably not the start of a downward trend, as there is often a drop in mortgagee sales in January - generally a quiet business month.
He does not expect a major decline on forced sales until at least the middle of next year.
Mr Donald says when year-on-year figures are compared, the number of forced sales is still 31% higher than a year ago.