Almost 800K foreclosed homes in U.S. in last quarter of 2010

Almost 800,000 U.S. properties saw a foreclosure filing in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to national housing data firm Realtytrac.

That number is the lowest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2008. In Minnesota, foreclosure filings were down more than 6 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period of 2009.

Daren Blomquist from Realtytrac said lenders delayed some foreclosure proceedings temporarily but foreclosure filings still hit record highs nationwide in 2010.

"What you have happening in the fourth quarter is kind of an artificial dip in the numbers because of the foreclosure documentation problems," Blomquist said.

Blomquist said Minnesota is in better shape than some states, ranking near the middle for foreclosure activity.

"Because it hasn't seen as severe a foreclosure crisis as some of the really hard hit states," he said. "For the fourth quarter Minnesota's foreclosure rate ranked number 21 among all of the states and that has been fairly consistent -- it's been about the middle of the pack."

Blomquist says some lenders delayed some foreclosure proceedings temporarily because the controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation problems.