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BILL RADKE: Real estate data firm RealtyTrac is out with its foreclosure report for August. And really there’s no way to sugarcoat this one. Defaults and repos are up 4 percent from July’s figures.

Janet Babin reports from North Carolina Public Radio.

JANET BABIN: RealtyTrac found that a lot of the same states keep topping the foreclosure list. Nevada was number one again for the 44th straight month. Florida and California remain among the top five.

But the real estate data firm saw a new trend in August: foreclosure creep. Rick Sharga is a senior vice president with RealtyTrac.

RICK SHARGA: The problem is now migrating along the lines of where we’re seeing rates of unemployment increase — places like Idaho, Oregon, Utah and most recently Washington state.

And while foreclosure rates in some places — like Florida — are down marginally from last year, Sharga says that drop is mostly from foreclosure prevention programs.

Until the jobs picture brightens and consumer confidence returns, Sharga says we can expect the increase in foreclosures to continue. He does not expect a housing market recovery for at least three years.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.