RealtyTrac has reported an increase in foreclosure activity for the month of August, which analysts say is good news for the housing market if the trend continues. The 7% increase may have something to do with the New Jersey ruling that permitted four out of five large banks to press forward with foreclosures at a faster pace.

A total of 228,098 US properties entered some stage of foreclosure - default notices, scheduled auction or bank repossessions - last month.

Default notices in particular increased by 33% in August, indicating lenders may be starting to push backlogged distressed properties through the pipeline.

“It feels almost like the industry hit the reset button this month”, Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, told local press. “We don’t know yet if this is a beginning of a trend, but there is a good chance we might see might see a return to a more realistic foreclosure numbers”, he added.

State-by-state, Nevada posted the highest rate of foreclosures for the 56th month in a row, with one in every 118 housing units receiving foreclosure filing last month. It was followed by California, where one in every 226 properties entered foreclosure, and Arizona, where one in every 248 housing units did the same.

Other states with high foreclosure levels include Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Utah.