Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, a foreclosure data provider and an online marketplace for distressed properties, released its April 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ on Wednesday, which shows foreclosure filings were issued against 243,353 properties in April. April’s filings, which include all default notices, auction sale sheets and bank repossessions, increased 4-percent in volume when compared to March and 65-percent when compared to the same period last year.                                                                                                      
A break out of the data shows that one in every 519 American households became the subject of a foreclosure filing in April.

"The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Although only about 2-percent of households nationwide are in foreclosure, these properties contribute to already bloated inventories of homes for sale, and put downward pressure on home values. Areas of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona continue to be particularly hard-hit. Property tax bases are eroding, putting municipal budgets in peril. For example, the city council in Vallejo, California - part of a metropolitan area with a foreclosure rate that ranked sixth highest in the nation in April - last week voted to have the city file for bankruptcy."

A state-by-state analysis of foreclosure filings by RealtyTrac also concluded that the states of California, Florida and Ohio maintained the highest foreclosure totals in April, while Nevada, California and Arizona had the top state foreclosure rates.