Minnesota foreclosures increased 11 percent in August from the prior month, well above the 4 percent increase that the nation saw, according to a report by RealtyTrac, Inc., a firm that runs an online real estate database.

RealtyTrac reports that 3,478 homes in Minnesota were in foreclosure in August, meaning one in every 670 Minnesota housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

The August total, the highest since March when 3,762 Minnesota homes were in foreclosure, represents an 11 percent increase from July when 3,124 homes in the state were in foreclosure.

Hennepin County saw the most foreclosures during the month (1,200), followed by Anoka County (545), and Ramsey County (495).

Nationwide, 338,836 properties were in foreclosure in August-a 4 percent increase from July but a 5 percent decrease from August 2009. One in every 381 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

A total of 96,469 U.S. properties received default notices in August, a 1 percent decrease from the previous month and a 30 percent decrease from August 2009. Foreclosure auctions were scheduled on a total of 147,003 U.S. properties in August, a 9 percent increase from the previous month and a 2 percent increase from August 2009.

Bank repossessions accounted for 95,364 of the foreclosed U.S. properties in August, the highest monthly total in the history of the report and about 2 percent higher than the previous peak of 93,777 bank repossessions in May 2010.

James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said in a statement that the trend that was seen in August of decreasing default notices and increasing bank repossessions is ” a clear indication that the clogged foreclosure pipeline is being carefully managed on both ends by lenders and servicers.”

In other local real estate news, another online real estate database-Trulia.com-reported earlier this week that price reductions in the Twin Cities reached an all-time high of 43 percent in September-the highest in the nation.

In total, sellers have slashed $34.8 million off homes currently on the market in the Twin Cities. September marks the fifth consecutive month of price reductions at or above 40 percent in the Twin Cities.

-Melissa Loth