RIVERSIDE - While foreclosures continue to decline countywide, Riverside County had the second-highest foreclosure rate in the state last year, a real estate tracking firm reported today.

A total 31,114 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions were recorded countywide in 2012, translating to 1 in 26 households in some stage of foreclosure, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

The number of filings was down 24 percent from 2011 -- and 44 percent below the total for 2010, figures showed.

San Joaquin County was No. 1, with 1 in 25 households in default.

In the last quarter of 2012, Riverside County was also No. 2, while Stanislaus County was No. 1, according to RealtyTrac. San Bernardino County was No. 3.

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[ Pala Mesa Resort ] properties slipped into foreclosure in 2012, according to RealtyTrac. The activity represented a 3 percent drop from 2011 and a 36 percent decline from the peak reached in 2010.

RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said the foreclosure picture in the months ahead was obscured by some state laws favoring a more drawn-out process of repossessing properties. He predicted a "backlog of delayed foreclosures building up" in some states.

California ranked No. 6 in U.S. foreclosure activity in 2012, with 319,162 properties going into default, or 1 in 43, according to RealtyTrac. The figure was 25 percent below the number of filings in 2011 and 41 percent less than in 2010.

Florida had the highest foreclosure rate nationwide, with 1 in 32 households in default last year.