The nation's foreclosure rate in July zoomed 55% over the year-earlier period, led by recent perennial housing-bust states Nevada, California and Florida. According to RealtyTrac, a publisher of foreclosure information, there were 272,171 foreclosure filings-default notices, auction sales notices, and bank repossessions-during the month, an 8% increase over June.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 106 households getting a foreclosure notice in July. That was a 97% leap from the year-earlier period and a 15% increase from June. Next came California (one in every 182 households) and Florida (one in every 186 households).

The rest of the top 10 were Arizona, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, Utah, and Virginia.

The highest foreclosure total belonged to California, with 72,285. That rose 85% from July 2007 and 5% from June. Next came Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Illinois and New York.

The worst metro market for foreclosures was Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., with one in every 64 households receiving a foreclosure notice in July. That was followed by three California metro areas: Merced, Stockton and Modesto. Rounding out this dubious top 10 were Las Vegas; three more California metro areas-Riverside-San Bernardino, Bakersfield and Vallejo-Fairfield; Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Phoenix.