U.S. foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2007 was up 35 percent from the first quarter of 2006, according to the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today. The report documents a total of 437,498 foreclosure filings, which include default notices, auction notices and bank repossessions, during the quarter and a quarterly foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 264 households — the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report more than two years ago.

Nevada reported the highest state foreclosure rate during the quarter, with one foreclosure filing for every 75 households — 3.5 times the national average. Colorado and Georgia rounded out the top three state foreclosure rates, followed by Michigan, California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Texas and New Jersey.

Detroit's first-quarter foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 51 households was highest among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas and and more than five times the national average. Other cities with foreclosure rates among the top 10 included Las Vegas, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., Sacramento, Calif., Stockton, Calif., Atlanta, Denver, Bakersfield, Calif., Fort Worth, Texas, and Dallas.

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