The number of foreclosure filings is still rising, even as foreclosure activity dropped in more than half of the country’s worst-hit areas in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year. Foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac said in a report released today that foreclosure filings in 14 of the top 20 metropolitan areas declined year-over-year. The decrease contrasted the market’s general trend regarding foreclosure filings, which rose 16% nationwide in the same period.

Most of the declines were recorded by cities located in the Sunbelt “bubble” states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, which accounted for all of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates. Las Vegas topped the list, even though foreclosure filings in Sin City were 19% better in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

California cities accounted for 10 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates while seven Florida cities made it to the top 20. James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, attributed the decrease in foreclosure filings in some of the country’s worst-hit areas to “government intervention and other non-market influences.”

However, he added that the improvement in foreclosure activity may just be a statistical glitch and not a real indicator of a market trend. “The decreasing foreclosure activity in some of the nation’s top foreclosure hot spots in the first quarter is not a sure signal that those areas are out of the woods yet,” he said.

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