Total foreclosure activity, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions (the final stage of the foreclosure process) rose 7 percent in August month-to-month, but is still down 9 percent from a year ago. Close to 117,000 properties received some kind of foreclosure filing during the month.  The biggest gains in foreclosure activity were in so-called judicial states, where foreclosures are processed through the court systems. These states have had the largest backlogs since the crisis began but are now ramping up work on cases, some that have lingered in limbo for several years. Foreclosure auctions increased the most in judicial states like Connecticut (up 81 percent), New York (up 81 percent), New Jersey (up 71 percent), Illinois (up 25 percent), and South Carolina (up 21 percent), but also in non-judicial states like Colorado (up 160 percent) and Oregon (up 117 percent).  Read MoreJobs still biggest worry for home buyers  "That's probably going to become "the new normal," while the judicial states finally begin to process delinquent loans that should have been in foreclosure two or three years ago, but we're delayed by regulatory and legislative measures," noted Rick Sharga of Auction.com, a real estate auction company. "In fact, a high percentage of foreclosure starts - probably 50 percent or more - are very likely on loans that were issued in 2009 or earlier, and where the borrower hasn't made a payment in at least two years."  Scheduled foreclosure auctions in judicial foreclosure states increased 5 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.
The number of U.S. properties scheduled for foreclosure auction in August was higher than a year ago, a warning that the crisis is not over.