KESQ.com News Services

RIVERSIDE - Fewer Riverside County homes fell into foreclosure in the third quarter of the year compared to the prior three months, but the foreclosure rate was still up by double digits from a year ago, a real estate tracking firm reported today.

A total 27,349 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions were recorded in Riverside County between July and September -- down 7 percent from the second quarter but up 16 percent from the third quarter of 2008, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

Riverside County had the state's second-highest foreclosure rate, just behind Merced County, RealtyTrac data showed.

One in 28 Riverside County households was in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter, according to figures.

The Inland Empire as a whole had the sixth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation between July and September, RealtyTrac said.

In the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, there were 48,416 foreclosure filings, a 7 percent drop from the second quarter and an 11 percent jump from the year-ago quarter, data indicated.

Nationally, the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area had the highest foreclosure activity, followed by Merced, Cape-Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., Stockton and Modesto.