Colorado's foreclosure pace shows no signs of slowing, with predictions that the number of foreclosures could hit 40,000 by year-end.

That would mark a 41 percent increase over the record 28,435 foreclosure filings in the state in 2006.

A report released Thursday by the Colorado Division of Housing shows that 19,460 foreclosures were filed in the state in the first six months of the year.

While the report estimated between 36,000 and 38,000 foreclosures in 2007, Ryan McMaken of the division said he was being conservative.

"It certainly is not outside the realm of possibility of hitting 40,000," he said, noting foreclosure activity often accelerates in the second half of the year.

"All the public trustees I talked with said that they have seen no slowdown in July and August," McMaken said.

More than half of the foreclosures through June ? 10,015 ? took place in the second quarter.

"It looks like we're very unlikely to see any declines in foreclosure rates this year," Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing, said in a statement.

She noted that many adjustable-rate mortgages are readjusting and that there is a large inventory of unsold homes clogging the market.

"If you can't make your payments, and you need to sell your house, odds are that you won't be able to sell it quickly or easily," Williams said. "That's certainly part of what's driving the foreclosure numbers we're seeing along the Front Range."

Roy Alexander, head of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, said this week that the Colorado and national foreclosure crisis will worsen next year.

But Alexander said that people who buy homes using CHFA financing have a very low foreclosure rate. One reason: Low- and moderate-income people who qualify for the below-market CHFA loans are required to take homeowner classes.

In the second quarter, 1,575 homes were purchased using CHFA financing, for a total $140.82 million in mortgages. CHFA has reservations for an additional 2,041 loans totaling $180 million.

The Division of Housing report also continued its criticism of California-based RealtyTrac, which said Colorado had a much higher 17,852 homes in some state of foreclosure in the second quarter alone. That suggests that RealtyTrac combined the 10,017 new foreclosure filings and the 6,322 foreclosure sales, "plus some unknown data," to arrive at its number, according to the state division's report.

Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac said he hasn't had time to evaluate the Division of Housing statistics.

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207