A nearly 25 percent increase in foreclosures last year, combined with slowing sales, softer home prices and higher mortgage rates reveal a housing market in the throes of change away from favoring sellers.

Foreclosure monitor RealtyTrac said the number of foreclosures nationwide was up 24.5 percent from the first quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter.

"Over the past few years, we've seen historically low mortgage rates, consistently escalating home prices and steady, strong employment," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

"This has translated into relatively low levels of foreclosure properties -- particularly bank-owned properties. With interest rates rising and an apparent slowing of property valuations in most markets, we'll be watching closely to see if there's a material effect on the number of foreclosures in 2006," he added.

Along with higher foreclosures, existing-home sales set an annual record, but declined in December falling 3.1 percent compared to December 2004, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $211,000 in December, up 10.5 percent from December 2004, but down from November's $215,000 median, NAR also reported.

And the average of fixed mortgage rates for conforming 30-year mortgages rose for the fourth consecutive week to an average 6.24 percent by Feb. 9, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago the average was 5.57 percent.

Hardest hit by rising foreclosure rates during 2005 were Massachusetts, up nearly 200 percent; Connecticut, up 188 percent; Michigan up 170 percent; Virginia up 151 percent and Maryland, up 117 percent.

RealtyTrac's report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: pre-foreclosures, Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); foreclosures, Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and real estate owned, or REO properties (those that have been re-purchased by a bank).

It's not just the percentages. Numbers are growing too and that's statistically significant.

Nationwide, the number of foreclosures during the first quarter were 188,122. By the final quarter that number had risen to 234,278. In Massachusetts, the foreclosures jumped from 616 to 1,843; Connecticut, 1,456 to 4,202; Michigan, 4,411 to 11,937; Virginia, 380 to 956 and Maryland, 667 to 1,448.

Washington, D.C.'s foreclosures rose fastest, 300 percent, but the numbers remain relatively low, 10 foreclosures during the first quarter compared to only 155 during the fourth quarter.

Still, for some regions, the trend is obvious.

"Overall, U.S. foreclosure numbers climbed steadily over the course of the year, with more new foreclosures reported in every quarter," said Saccacio. "This trend appears to be moving the real estate foreclosure market back to its historic levels."

The percentage of foreclosure increases don't tell the whole story.

Florida experienced a 29 percent decrease in new foreclosures from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, but accounted for more than 14 percent of the nation's new foreclosures in 2005. Foreclosures in the Sunshine State represented 1.67 percent of the state's households, RealtyTrac reported.

"Even with almost 850,000 properties entering some stage of foreclosure across the country over the course of the year, this represents less than 1 percent of all U.S. households," Saccacio said.

Likewise, No. 2 Colorado saw foreclosure decreasing 4 percent during the survey period, but the 29,630 foreclosures in 2005 represent 1.62 percent of the state's households.

Utah was third with 1.5 percent of that state's households entering foreclosure in 2005.

Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee also revealed foreclosure rates of at least 1 percent of total households.

Published: February 16, 2006

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.