Foreclosures Up From Last Year; Remain Near Record Levels

Home foreclosures in August jumped 18 percent from a year ago, but decreased 0.47 from the previous month, according to a new report by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Foreclosures remained near record levels in August.

In all, 358,471 properties in the United States received foreclosure fillings in August, just slightly below July's record level of 360,149 properties.

“The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even while the outflow of bank-owned REO [real estate owned] properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

RealtyTrac's data comes a day after the Treasury Department warned that millions more foreclosures were coming as a monthly report showed that just 12 percent of eligible homeowners had had their mortgages reworked, part of the current administration’s housing rescue plan.

Michael Barr, the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions, told a House Financial Services subcommittee Wednesday that even if the Home Affordable Modification Program is a success, "we should still expect millions of foreclosures."

The states with the highest foreclosure rates remained little changed from the month before. Nevada again had the highest rate in the nation, with one in every 62 households receiving a foreclosure filling, which is defined as a default notice, bank repossession or auction sale notice.

Florida had the second highest rate with one in 140 households receiving a filling, and California had the third highest with one in 144 households receiving a filling.

• Slideshow: States with the Highest Foreclosure Rates