Denton County’s residential foreclosure activity for the upcoming May auction dipped to 560 homes, compared with 595 listings last year, according to data released Thursday by Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.

May’s residential foreclosures saw a 17 percent decrease from last month’s 677 postings, officials said.

But that’s not unusual for this time of year, as May’s residential postings have dipped from April in nine of the last 13 years, said Bonnie Brown, a spokeswoman for the Addison-based listing service.

“Some portion of this monthly adjustment is due to families getting their income tax return and applying that to their delinquent mortgages,” Brown said.

While it would be premature to get excited about the double-digit month-to-month drop, analysts will be watching year-to-year comparisons in Denton County and the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a six-month trend that could indicate recovery, she said.

In the last four months, residential foreclosure numbers have been fluctuating in Denton County, she said.

“I think it’s important for people not to get overly excited. … An estimated 220 homes will be foreclosed upon in May, and that doesn’t help those 220 families,” Brown said. “This is a significant problem, and it will be a long time before we work through it.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .