Colorado was No. 5 in the nation for its foreclosure rate in July, the state's best showing in more than a year, according to a RealtyTrac Inc. report released Tuesday.

But Colorado, which was No. 2 in the nation for much of this year and No. 1 for much of 2006, didn't improve because Colorado's foreclosure rate is getting better. Other states' rates are getting worse, according to the company.

"What you're seeing is other areas, notably California, Nevada and Michigan, going through explosive bursts of foreclosure activity, passing Colorado in the process," said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at Irvine, Calif.- based RealtyTrac.

Greeley ranked No. 10 in top metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosures.

Nationwide, the number of foreclosure filings reported last month jumped 93 percent from July 2006 and rose 9 percent from June, the latest sign that -homeowners are having trouble making payments and finding buyers during the national housing downturn.

There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported during July, up from 92,845 during the same period a year ago, RealtyTrac said Tuesday. There were 164,644 foreclosure filings reported in June.

The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing for every 693 households, the company said.

"While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states - California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia - accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," Realty-Trac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.

In Colorado, RealtyTrac data show 5,920 homes in some stage of foreclosure in July -that's one out of every 347 households.

Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and California had higher foreclosure rates than Colorado, according to RealtyTrac.

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate: one filing for every 199 households, or more than three times the national average. It reported 5,116 filings during the month, an increase of 8 percent from June.

The company did break out individual properties as part of its report for the first six months of this year, when a total of 573,397 properties reported some sort of foreclosure activity.

That represents a 58 percent jump from the 363,672 properties in the first six months of 2006 and a 32 percent increase from the 433,504 in the last six months of 2006, the firm said.

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207 The Associated Press contributed to this report.