Sarasota, Charlotte and Manatee counties had 190 homes repossessed during August as the Sunshine State's foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent when compared with July.

That came as RealtyTrac Inc. -- the California-based company that tracks the phenomenon -- recorded the highest number of filings nationally in a single month since it started tracking them two years ago.

Of the 190 foreclosures in this region, 100 were in Sarasota County -- likely concentrated in struggling North Port -- while another 66 were in Manatee County and 24 in Charlotte County.

There were a total of 1,688 foreclosure actions -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- in the three-county area.

Sarasota County had one foreclosure action for every 258 households, making it the 12th highest per-capita county in Florida.

Manatee County had one for every 284 households -- putting it 16th -- while Charlotte County was No. 17 with one for every 293.

In July, Sarasota County had ranked No. 16 out of Florida's 67 counties while Manatee and Charlotte counties ranked No. 21 and No. 24, respectively.

Nationally, the number of foreclosure filings more than doubled last month when compared with August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, RealtyTrac reported.

It is a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.

Florida reported 33,932 foreclosure actions -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- making for a foreclosure rate of one for every 243 households.

That put the Sunshine State in third place for the highest rate of foreclosures behind only Nevada and California.

Nationally, a total of 243,947 foreclosure filings were reported in August, up 115 percent from 113,300 in the same month a year ago, RealtyTrac said. There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported in July.

The national foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 510 households.

"The jump in foreclosure filings this month might be the beginning of the next wave of increased foreclosure activity, as a large number of subprime adjustable rate loans are beginning to reset now," RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.

The mortgage industry has been rocked by a surge in defaults, particularly among borrowers with subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages that initially have attractive "teaser" interest rates but then can adjust upward, resulting in a payment shock.

Many of the loans, some of which adjust in as little as two years, were issued in 2005 and 2006 during the height of the housing boom.

Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices have also left homeowners unable to make their mortgage payments hard-pressed to find buyers.

The latest figures also reflect an increase in the number of homes going into foreclosure that are not being picked up in estate sales and are ending up going back to lenders.

The number of bank repossessions jumped to 42,789 in August, compared with 20,116 a year earlier, the RealtyTrac said. In July, there were 26,842 bank repossessions.

Nevada reported one foreclosure filing for every 165 households -- more than three times the national average. The state had 6,197 filings in August, an increase of 21 percent from July and more than triple the year-ago figure.

California's foreclosure rate was one filing for every 224 households. The state reported the most foreclosure filings of any single state with 57,875, up 48 percent from July and an increase of more than 300 percent from August 2006.

Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Indiana rounded out the 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates.



Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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