Despite housing help, foreclosures rose 6% last month

— -- Foreclosure filings in February jumped nearly 6% from January, despite foreclosure moratoriums and prevention programs around the country, according to a report out Thursday.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 290,631 properties in February, up almost 30% from February 2008, RealtyTrac said. Its report also shows one in every 440 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing in February.

Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

"It's a bit worse than I expected," says Mark Zandi, with Moody's Economy.com. "It shows the foreclosure crisis continues to intensify. It highlights the difficulty the Obama administration is going to have to stem these surging foreclosures."

The top foreclosure rates occurred in Nevada, Arizona and California. In Nevada, one in every 70 homes received a foreclosure filing in February. Foreclosure filings were reported on 15,783 Nevada properties during the month, a 9% increase from the previous month and a 156% increase from February 2008.

"The 6% was a little higher than expected," says Joel Naroff with Naroff Economic Advisors. "It's still very high, but it's not overly surprising. While there are moratoriums that exist, not every property is going to be spared. We should expect to see a steady rise in foreclosures. More people will be facing this as unemployment increases."

Arizona posted the second-highest state foreclosure rate in February. One in every 147 housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month. California — with one in every 165 properties receiving a filing — had the third-highest rate.

Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Oregon and Ohio were the other states with the 10 highest foreclosure rates.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 80,775 California properties in February, the most of any state and a 5% increase from the previous month.

Foreclosures may increase once moratoriums run out, says Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac.

"We could be seeing the first wave of employment-related" foreclosure activity, he says. "What worries us is that, with all the delinquency tactics, we're seeing an increase."