Honolulu ranked the lowest among the top 100 major U.S. metropolitan areas for home foreclosures in the second quarter, despite a 63 percent increase in filings from a year earlier.

There were 250 foreclosure filings from April to June this year, 63.4 percent higher than the second quarter of 2007, according to a report by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. There were 155 filings in the City and County of Honolulu in the first quarter of this year, a 52 percent increase from 2007.

Honolulu's second quarter jump was far lower than the 121 percent rise in foreclosure filings on average for the top 100 metropolitan markets. At one foreclosure filing per 1,331 households, Honolulu also was well below the one per 171 household filings average for the top 100 markets in the second quarter.

Nationally, the number of households facing the foreclosure process more than doubled in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.

Nationwide, 739,714 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice during the quarter, or one in every 171 U.S. households. That was up 121 percent from the second quarter of 2007.

Soft housing sales, declining home values, tighter lending standards and a sluggish U.S. economy have left strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can't refinance into an affordable loan.

Cities in California and Florida accounted for 16 of the worst 20 metro foreclosure rates.

Stockton, Calif., topped the list at one filing per 25 households, followed by Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., at one per 32 households.

RealtyTrac's count provides more geographic detail of the local foreclosure picture compared with a monthly RealtyTrac count by state, but is still a somewhat imprecise measure of homes threatened by foreclosure.

Data collected by the firm includes a range of document filings in the foreclosure process, from default notices to auction notices, so the data may include more than one filing on the same property.

But Hawai'i foreclosure actions may be underrepresented because default notices typically aren't filed publicly in nonjudicial foreclosures, which are more prevalent in Hawai'i compared with many other states. Still, RealtyTrac does count nonjudicial foreclosure sale notices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.