Honolulu bankruptcy attorney Ed Magauran finds it puzzling that the number of bankruptcies filed statewide has continued to decline each month for most of the past five years.

“I’m pretty surprised it has been this long,” he said after data released Monday showed a 16 percent dip in July filings from the year-earlier period. “There’s no lack of people calling and thinking about dumping their debt.”

The number of filings plunged to their lowest July level since 2007, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii.

There were 121 cases filed last month, down from 144 in the year-earlier period and the fewest filings in any July since 108 were filed in 2007.

Statewide filings have been flat or down from the year-earlier period for 62 of the past 64 months. A booming construction sector, low unemployment, a strong housing market and growth in the tourism industry have helped bolster the state economy.

The only interruption in the downward trend was in October and November 2015 when bankruptcies were up slightly over the year-earlier period.

For the first seven months of the year, bankruptcies were down 14.4 percent from the year-earlier period. At that pace the state will finish the year with 1,389 bankruptcies. That would be the lowest total since 1,381 were filed in 2007.

“I think a lot of (the downward trend) has to do with strategic decisions that the banks have made not to foreclose on people,” Magauran said. “If we were in 2007, 2008, and you were three months behind on your mortgage, the bank would be commencing foreclosure. I get several calls a week from people who haven’t paid their mortgage in five years, and the mortgage companies are making rumblings about foreclosure. If you owe somebody money and they are not demanding payment, people tend not to do anything about it, including not looking into debt relief through bankruptcy.”

Magauran said the tourism industry has provided a lifeline for many people.

“People are getting a lot of work in the hotel industry,” he said. “It seems to be pretty full. But I’m still getting lots of calls from people who have debt and are looking for a way out that may be a settlement or some type of agreement.”

Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcies — the most common type of bankruptcy — fell 22.9 percent in July to 84 from 109 in the year-earlier month. Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to pay creditors over time, inched up 2.9 percent to 36 from 35. And there was one Chapter 11 case last month compared with none in the same month a year ago. Chapter 11 bankruptcies typically involve business reorganization.

Across the state, the number of filings fell in three of the four major counties. Bankruptcies in Honolulu County declined to 75 from 94, Hawaii County bankruptcies fell to 13 from 17 and Kauai County bankruptcies dropped to four from nine. But Maui County bankruptcies rose to 29 from 24.