Homes Lost to Foreclosure Rose 9% in July

The number of homeowners who lost their properties to foreclosure jumped 9% in July as lenders moved to repossess a glut of homes with past-due mortgages.

A total of 92,858 homes were repossessed in July, according to foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac. That's 9% higher than in June and 6% higher than the figure for July 2009. July was the eighth straight month to post a year-on-year rise in homes lost to foreclosure.

And foreclosure filings, a category that includes default notices, scheduled actions and bank repossessions, hit 325,229 in July. That's a 4% increase from June, but notably, it's a 10% drop from July 2009.

"July marked the 17th consecutive month with a foreclosure activity total exceeding 300,000," said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. "Declines in new default notices, which were down on a year-over-year basis for the sixth straight month in July, have been offset by near-record levels of bank repossessions."

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate among all states, with one in every 82 households receiving a foreclosure filing.

California had the highest percentage of the total foreclosures filings, accounting for 21% of the nation's filings.