The San Bernardino-Riverside area ranked No. 2 nationwide in the first quarter of this year in foreclosure filings, according to a report published today by Irvine-based real-estate data company RealtyTrac.

"Foreclosure filings" include default notices, auction sales, and bank repossessions.

Banks repossessed almost 10,000 homes in the region from January to March, while default notices clocked in at almost 23,600.

And buyers put money down on more than 3,700 foreclosures.

Real-estate expert Michael Carney isn't surprised.

"As more prices fall, there are more homes with no equity," said the director of Real Estate Research Council at Cal Poly Pomona. "If you have no equity in your property, and prices are falling, you have no incentive but to walk away."

Real-estate agents are spending more of their time working out foreclosure deals between banks and buyers.

"We're seeing an uptick in foreclosure sales," said Dave Coy, president of Century 21 Lois Lauer Realty, which has offices in Redlands, Yucaipa and Moreno Valley.

One in every 38 households reported a foreclosure filing in the two counties.

Statewide foreclosure filings jumped 213 percent from the first quarter of 2007, and even higher - 230 percent - in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.