Colorado new foreclosure filings up in first quarter

DENVER – The state Division of Housing says first-quarter foreclosure filings in Colorado rose 6 percent from the same period last year, but numbers last year were affected by efforts nationwide to help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure.

The division said Thursday there were 11,136 new foreclosure filings in the first three months of the year, up 6 percent from a year ago but down 4 percent from two years ago.

The number of completed foreclosures was up too. There were 6,686 first-quarter foreclosure sales at auction, up almost 54 percent from last year and up 13 percent from 2008.

The housing division says record high new foreclosure filings in the second and third quarters of last year drove the large number of foreclosure sales.