ABJ - September 15 - RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for August, which shows foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions—that were reported on 228,098 U.S. properties in August, a seven per cent increase from the previous month, but still down nearly 33 per cent from August 2010. The report also shows one in every 570 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.

Default notices were filed for the first time on 78,880 U.S. properties in August, a nine-month high and a 33 per cent increase from July, the biggest month-over-month increase since August 2007. Despite the monthly increase, default notices were still down 18 per cent from August 2010 and were 44 per cent below the monthly peak of 142,064 default notices in April 2009.

Default notices increased more than 40 per cent on a month-over-month basis in several states, including New Jersey (42 per cent), Indiana (46 per cent), and California (55 per cent), but were still down from a year ago in all of those states.

“The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed by robo-signing and other documentation problems,” said James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. “It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process.”