Foreclosure rates increased in Spokane and Kootenai counties during the third quarter of 2010, but filings fell in September compared with 2009, according to a national real estate research company.

RealtyTrac said 727 Spokane properties received a notice of trustee sale, or were taken over by lenders in the quarter. For September, the number was 191.

In Kootenai County, 670 properties were subject to a notice of default or trustee sale, or went back to the lender during the quarter. The total for September was 243.

The Spokane third-quarter filings represented a 76 percent increase compared with the second quarter, and a near tripling of activity a year earlier. September was less active than August, but more than double September 2009.

Quarterly results in Kootenai County were only slightly worse than quarter- and year-prior periods, but monthly comparisons showed improvements. 

Idaho ranked fifth among all states in the rate of foreclosure filings, Washington was 14th.

Nationally, notices and sales were relatively flat for the quarter and month compared with the 2009 periods. More than 930,000 properties were in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter, 347,420 of those in September.   

---

---