The state of California alone accounted for more than one-fourth of all U.S. foreclosure filings in the third quarter. This auction sign was posted at a house under foreclosure in East Palo Alto, Calif., in early June.

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WASHINGTON — The number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to data released today.

Things were worse in Arizona, where foreclosure filings rose 78 percent in the third quarter compared with third-quarter 2007.

Statewide filings in September alone were up 61 percent from the same month last year, to 12,982 last month, the foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. reported.

In Maricopa County, foreclosures last month were up 66 percent from September 2007, with 9,631 filings representing one for every 155 households. But that was down 13 percent from August.

In Pima County, foreclosures last month were up 12 percent last month compared with September 2007, with 975 filings, or one for every 429 households. That was down 10 percent from August. County figures for the third quarter were unavailable.

Nationwide, nearly 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September, up 71 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

By the end of the year, RealtyTrac expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the United States.

That's bad news for anyone who lives nearby and wants to sell their home. Foreclosed properties are commanding deep discounts and pulling down neighboring property values. "It has a pretty significant impact in terms of pricing," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president for marketing.

RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. More than 250,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in the third quarter, including 81,000 last month.

Six states — Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada — accounted for more than 60 percent of all foreclosure activity in the quarter, with California alone making up more than one-fourth of all U.S. foreclosure filings.

Detroit and Atlanta were the only cities outside Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada to make RealtyTrac's list of the 20 hardest-hit metropolitan areas.

The combination of sinking home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and an economy that many economists think has already slipped into recession has left hundreds of thousands of homeowners with few options. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't refinance into an affordable loan.

For those who can qualify for a loan, or have cash to invest, there are bargains to be had, especially in ravaged markets like Nevada and California. Last month, foreclosure resales accounted for more than half of existing home sales in California, as home sales jumped 65 percent from a year ago, while the statewide median home price fell 34 percent to $283,000, according to MDA DataQuick.

RealtyTrac, however, reported foreclosure filings in September were actually down 12 percent from August. But much of that decline was the result of new state laws that delay the foreclosure process. In California, for example, lenders are now required to contact borrowers at least 30 days before filing a default notice.

Still, that's not likely to be enough to save homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Nearly 12 million of the 52 million Americans with a mortgage — that's 23 percent of them — are in that position, according to Moody's Economy.com.