RealtyTrac released its February U.S. Foreclosure Market Report today, and the report shows that U.S. foreclosure activity eased down 4 percent from the two-year high achieved in January. Still, the 130,786 foreclosure filings reported in February — one foreclosure filing for every 884 households — represented the second highest total reported since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.

February foreclosure activity was down 4 percent from January but up 12 percent from February 2006. Based on the foreclosure activity in the first two months of the year, RealtyTrac is projecting around 1.6 million foreclosures for 2007, which would be a 33 percent increase from 2006 — still below the 42 percent year-over-year increase documented between 2005 and 2006. RealtyTrac chief executive officer James J. Saccacio attributed at least some of the elevated foreclosure activity to higher-than-expected default rates for subprime and FHA loans.

“It appears that as subprime and FHA loans default at higher than anticipated rates, and lenders tighten their underwriting standards, we’re going to continue to see a spike in the number of homeowners facing foreclosure," he said.

Nevada reported the nation's highest state foreclosure rate for the second month in a row, with one foreclosure filing for every 278 households — more than three times the national average. Florida reported 19,144 foreclosure filings during the month, the most of any state and an increase of more than 63 percent from the previous month.