Inland Empire has nation's fifth-worst foreclosure rate

The San Bernardino-Riverside region has the nation's fifth worst foreclosure rate, according to information that Irvine-based RealtyTrac released Tuesday.

RealtyTrac calls itself "the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties" and reported Tuesday that the firm tallied more than 342,000 foreclosure filings across the United States during April. That figure represented a year-over-year increase of 32 percent.

"The report also shows that one in 374 American housing units received a foreclosure filing in April, the highest monthly foreclosure rate ever posted since RealtyTrac began issuing this report in January 2005," a press release stated.

RealtyTrac counts default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions in its tallies of foreclosure filings.

Las Vegas had the country's worst foreclosure rate, with one in 56 homes there receiving foreclosure filings. RealtyTrac's release did not include numbers for all metropolitan areas, but reported that California and Florida were both focal points for foreclosure activity.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. had the second-highest foreclosure rate, followed by Merced, Modesto, San Bernardino-Riverside, Bakersfield, Vallejo-Fairfield, Stockton, Miami and Orlando.

Among states, Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate - one in 68 homes there received a foreclosure filing.

California had America's third highest rate. One in 138 homes, for a total of 96,560 homes received a foreclosure filing.