National Foreclosures Up for Second Straight Month, But Still Lower Than Before Housing Bust

Florida, Nevada and Illinois led the nation in March with the highest foreclosure rates for the first quarter, while foreclosures nationally dropped to the lowest point since 2007, before the hopusing market meltdown, according to data from real estate market analyst Realty Trac and the first quarter U.S. Market Report.

Florida had the most March foreclosures of any state-one in every 104 housing units, or nearly three times the national average, ABC News reports.

Foreclosure starts across the United States increased 2 percent from February to March, the second straight monthly increase following three consecutive monthly decreases, the Realty Trac numbers indicated.

Overall, there were 152,500 foreclosures throughout the U.S. reported in March, a 1 percent drop from February and a decrease of 23 percent from the same time the year before.

The March decrease added to a lower foreclosure total for the country in the first quarter, which included default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

Yet, even though the overall national trend shows a continued decrease, "late-blooming foreclosures are bolting higher" in some markets where aggressive prevention efforts helped delay foreclosures before, but such measures seem to be waning, RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist said.

Florida cities accounted for 7 of the 10 highest metro foreclosure rates, Miami leading every other metro area in the country for the first quarter.

Meanwhile, more recent efforts to avoid foreclosures have notably increased the average time to foreclosure in other states, Blomquist said. As a result, a second outbreak of delayed foreclosures could be on the way.

"It is being driven at the national level, mostly by increases in states where new legislation is changing the foreclosure process and making it more difficult for lenders to foreclose," Blomquist told ABC News.

Those efforts included programs such as the Homeowner Bill of Rights in California that was implemented in January and the Foreclosure Fairness Act in Massachusetts that was enacted in November.

Oregon, Nevada and Washington have passed similar legislation over the last 18 months.