By KEVIN POST, Business Editor | Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010 |

Foreclosures in southern New Jersey fell sharply in January, but remained substantially higher than the same period a year ago, foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., said Wednesday.

January filings fell nearly 10 percent nationwide, yet still remained 15 percent higher than a year ago.

Atlantic County foreclosures were down 40 percent for the month and 45 percent higher than the previous January. Cape May County filings were 42 percent lower than in December, but up 26 percent over the prior year. Ocean County’s 36 percent drop in January left it 39 percent higher than January 2009.

Only Cumberland County managed fewer foreclosures for the month – down 42 percent – and from the prior year, down 7 percent.

James Saccacio, RealtyTrac president, said the data was typical of the season for the highly volatile foreclosures, with double-digit drops in January following double-digit increases in December. If the pattern holds, the next few months will see filings increase.

December monthly foreclosure increases locally were 11 percent in Atlantic County, 14 percent in Cape May County, 26 percent in Cumberland County and 11 percent in Ocean County.

Data for all of 2009, which smoothes out monthly volatility, showed Atlantic and Ocean counties lagging the improving housing markets in Cape May and Cumberland counties. For the year, foreclosures surged 34 percent in Atlantic County and 9 percent in Ocean County, and fell 3 percent in Cape May County and 7 percent in Cumberland County.

Data from Zillow.com this week showed 9 percent of housing sales in Atlantic County were foreclosed properties, with Atlantic City and Pleasantville the most affected communities. Data was unavailable for the other counties.

The regional market continues to outperform the nation as a whole, where one in every 409 homes had a foreclosure filing in January. Comparable numbers for local counties were 429 in Atlantic, 522 in Cumberland, 569 in Ocean and 910 in Cape May County.

U.S. foreclosures continued to be concentrated in Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida, which again had the highest rates. The last three alone accounted for 44 percent of all U.S. foreclosures.

The rate of mortgage delinquencies – a precursor to foreclosure – reached a record 10 percent in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s third- quarter report, suggesting the foreclosure epidemic is far from over. The group’s fourth-quarter report will be released later this month.