RIVERSIDE - Foreclosure sales in Riverside County plummeted last month as fewer properties ended up on the auction block, according to a real estate tracking firm.

864 repossessed properties were sold in the county in September, compared with 1,141 in August, according to Bay Area-based ForeclosureRadar.com's monthly "Foreclosure Report." That's about a 24 percent drop.

The county's foreclosure sales were down 36 percent from a year ago, when 1,300 homes were auctioned off, figures showed.

In California, sales of distressed properties fell 18 percent in September and were down 30 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

According to ForeclosureRadar.com founder Sean O'Toole, foreclosure activity declined because banks were either adjusting to new state and federal regulations that require greater vetting of past-due mortgages or holding off on initiating foreclosure proceedings.

"The continued decline in foreclosure starts clearly shows that even though servicers are ... clear to move forward with foreclosures, they are still in no rush to foreclose on the majority of delinquent borrowers," O'Toole said.

Riverside County records second-highest foreclosure rate in stae

RIVERSIDE - Riverside County had the second-highest foreclosure rate in the state during the third quarter of this year, a real estate tracking firm reported today.

A total 10,997 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions were recorded Advertisement

[ Metalography ] countywide between July and September 2012, translating to 1 in 73 households in some stage of foreclosure, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

The number of filings was 9 percent less than the total recorded in the second quarter and 24 percent below the year-ago quarter, data showed.

San Joaquin County was No. 1, with 1 in 67 households in default; San Bernardino County was just behind Riverside, with 1 in 74; Solano County was No. 4, with 1 in 78; and Stanislaus County was No. 5, with 1 in 79.

Nationally, 531,576 properties slipped into foreclosure during the third quarter, a 5 percent drop compared to the prior quarter and 13 percent less than the same period a year ago, according to figures.

California was No. 3 in the nation in foreclosure volume between July and September, with 109,369 filings. The figure was 8 percent below the tally in the second quarter and 28 percent lower than in the third quarter of 2011, according to RealtyTrac. One in 125 households were in default statewide.

Florida was No. 1 in nationwide foreclosure activity, with 1 in 117 households delinquent on their loans; Arizona was No. 2 with 1 in 124; Illinois was just behind California at No. 4 with 1 in 126; and Georgia was No. 5 with 1 in 151.