New data from January shows that foreclosure deeds in New Hampshire dropped slightly from the previous month and dramatically from the same month in 2010, indicating that economic conditions may be improving.

According to the N.H. Housing Finance Authority, 184 foreclosure deeds were recorded in January—the lowest monthly total since the summer of 2007. That’s a 9 percent reduction from December, and a 48 percent decrease from January 2010. It was the fourth straight month to register a decrease from the same month a year prior.

The decline is at least partly due to several large mortgage lenders announcing moratoria on foreclosure proceedings last September. But steady, gradual improvement to the state’s underlying economic conditions may also be helping to slow the foreclosure rate, according to the Housing Finance Authority.