Hawai'i bucked the national trend of rising foreclosures last year with a 79 percent decline in the number of mortgage defaults.

There were 673 Hawai'i properties entering some stage of foreclosure last year in Hawai'i, compared with 3,206 the preceding year, according to Irvine, Calif.-based real-estate research firm RealtyTrac.

The state's drop in foreclosure filings was the largest in the nation, the report said. Only 12 states had decreases. The national average, meanwhile, increased by 42 percent.

Abundant jobs, rising incomes and a healthy real estate market helped keep foreclosures low, said Leroy Laney, a Hawai'i Pacific University economics professor.

"We do have a continuing fairly strong economy here," Laney said. "We're in pretty good shape."

Hawai'i had the 42nd lowest foreclosure rate among states, with one foreclosure for every 684 households. The national average was one foreclosure per 92 households. Colorado had the worst rate with one foreclosure per 33 households.

Of 100 metropolitan areas, Honolulu had the third best rate, with one foreclosure per 728 households. The worst metropolitan rate was Michigan's Detroit/Livonia/Dearborn area with one foreclosure per 21 households.

RealtyTrac said the rise in U.S. foreclosures was driven partly by a general slowing of home sales and dramatic increases in monthly mortgage payments for homeowners with riskier types of adjustable-rate and sub-prime mortgages.

RealtyTrac includes a variety of foreclosure actions in its count, including notices of default, foreclosure sale notices and property repurchases by lenders.

In Hawai'i, home sales slowed last year but prices rose modestly, giving homeowners with payment troubles more opportunity to refinance or sell property and avoid foreclosure.

Hawai'i also had the nation's lowest unemployment rate for most of last year. In December, unemployment in the state was 2 percent, the lowest in 30 years.

If U.S. foreclosures continue to increase at last year's pace, it could hurt the broad housing market, though last year's 42 percent increase was within normal historical averages, RealtyTrac said.

"While foreclosures are not at historically high levels, a 42 percent year-over-year increase is certainly noteworthy," RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.