Foreclosure filings eased slightly in August from a month earlier but remain significantly higher than year-ago levels despite lower levels of real estate-owned (REO) properties, according to foreclosure data provider RealtyTrac.

Total filings including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions 0.5% since July to 358,471 US properties in August.

The volume of filings came in 18% higher than the same month last year, with a foreclosure filing received on one in every 357 US housing units in August.

�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 properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated,� said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

�After hitting a high for the year in July,� Saccacio added, �REOs dropped 13% in August, but we also saw a record high number of properties either entering default or being scheduled for a public foreclosure auction for the first time.�

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate with one in every 62 units receiving a filing in the month. Florida followed with one in every 140 units receiving a filing and California trailed in a close third with one in every 144 units receiving a filing.

Vermont claimed the lowest rate with only 33 units � one in every 9,437 � receiving a filing. North Dakota followed with filings received on 33 � one in every 9,411 � units. West Virginia rounded out the bottom three state foreclosure rates with 143 housing units � or one in every 6,173 � receiving a filing in the month.

(Source: Housing Wire)