RIVERSIDE - The Inland Empire was ranked No. 5 in nationwide foreclosure activity during the first half of the year, with almost 4.5 percent of households in default, a real estate tracking firm reported today.

A total 63,717 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions were recorded in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area between January and June, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

Figures showed 1 in 23 households were in some stage of foreclosure during the six-month period.

The region's volume of defaults was down 22 percent from the same period last year and down 18 percent from the last six months of 2009, according to RealtyTrac.

A year ago, the Inland Empire was ranked No. 4 in nationwide foreclosure activity.

Nationally, some 1.96 million properties had foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac. The company's chief executive officer, James Advertisement

[ Chatton and Associates ] J. Saccacio, said 154 of the 206 metro areas with populations of 200,000 or more posted year-over-year increases in defaults.

"The fragile stability achieved in many local housing markets hinges on improvements in the underlying economy, specifically job growth," Saccacio said.

"If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas," he said.

The median price of a single-family home in the Riverside-San Bernardino- Ontario metro area in June was $191,900, up 15 percent from a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.

RealtyTrac figures showed the Las Vegas-Paradise area led the nation in foreclosure activity during the first half of the year, followed by Cape Coral- Fort Myers, Fla., Modesto, Calif. and Merced, Calif.