Warren County saw a more than 100 percent annual increase in February in foreclosure filings, according to a new monthly report released today by RealtyTrac Inc.

Warren County had the highest year-over-year increase of any county in the region and the second-highest foreclosure rate in the state, according to RealtyTrac’s February foreclosure report.

“It’s been pretty nasty. It’s low end, it’s high end, it’s the multi-million dollar homes as well as the small homes,” said James Spaeth, Warren County Clerk of Courts.

Original foreclosure filings in Warren County filed through the clerk’s office have increased 170 percent in the past 10 years, from 459 foreclosure cases filed in 2001 to 1,240 cases filed in 2011, according to the clerk’s office.

It declined in the past two years after reaching a peak of nearly 1,500 cases filed in 2009, Spaeth said.

Default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were made against 267 Warren County properties in February, an increase of about 105 percent compared to 130 foreclosure filings made in February 2011, according to RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac’s method can count a single property more than once over time.

Ohio was one of 21 states in the U.S. to see annual increases in foreclosure filings in February. Foreclosure filings of various types were made against 9,445 properties in Ohio in February, representing a total increase of 9.85 percent from February 2011, according to RealtyTrac.

That may be partly due to the approximately 17 percent increase in foreclosure filings year-over-year in the Cincinnati three-state metro region, including Butler and Warren counties.

In February, foreclosure filings were made against 1,546 properties in the Cincinnati metro.

Foreclosure filings were slightly down in just Butler County to 442.

However, the Dayton metro region of Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties saw a drop of more than 17 percent to 629 foreclosure filings compared to the same time a year ago.

In Clark County, foreclosure filings were made against 113 properties in February, a less than 1 percent increase compared to a report from the same time last year.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.