Mortgagee sales made up almost 5% of property sales in November, figures from property information company Terralink show.
During the month, there were 287 forced sales, compared to 148 in the same month the year before and 39 in November 2007.
Terralink managing director Mike Donald says properties owned by investors and developers still accounted for most mortgagee sales.
However, as the effects of the recession drag on, more people with a single property - typically the family home - are being forced by banks to sell.
Auckland, Otago, Nelson and Northland experienced an increase in mortgagee sales in November, while the rest of New Zealand had either decreased or stayed the same as the month before.
Mr Donald said there was a 4% drop in mortgagee sales in November compared to October 2009, but the change was too small to indicate a general trend. There would probably be a dip in December because that month is usually slow for house sales overall, he said.
