Nearly 90,000 U.S. home sales in May involved houses auctioned as part of a foreclosure process, online marketplace RealtyTrac reported.
Foreclosure auctions rose 3 percent from April to May to 89,251, Housing Predictor said Thursday.
Statistics show that the market is beginning to move forward after a stall triggered by a negative reaction in the courts for lenders who contracted their foreclosure paperwork to firms that took short cuts at the risk of homeowners' rights.
While auctions increased 3 percent, foreclosure filings fell 2 percent in May compared to April and 33 percent compared to May 2010, Housing Wire reported.
Figures show evidence that, "Lenders are somewhat unevenly pushing batches of bad loans through foreclosure as they overhaul their paperwork and documentation procedures," RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said.
In May, one out of every 103 residential units in Nevada was involved in foreclosure, giving the state the highest percentage in the country for 53 consecutive months.
Arizona had the second highest rate, followed by California.
Nationally, however, notices of default fell 7 percent from April to May to 58,797 homes.
"Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation, although there were some clues in the May numbers of what lies behind that mask," Saccacio said.