Alabama saw another year-over-year increase in foreclosures last month – nearly 73 percent – as states across the country are still getting hit by the subprime mortgage meltdown.

RealtyTrac reported that a total of 863 properties were in some form of foreclosure in July in Alabama, a nearly 73 percent increase over July 2007 and an 11.5 percent increase over June. That’s one foreclosure for every 2,445 households in the state.

Nationally, a total of 272,171 properties were reported to be in foreclosure, a more than 55 percent year-over-year increase and a nearly 8 percent monthly increase. That’s one foreclosure for every 464 households in the nation.

“The sharp rise in REOs (bank repossessions), combined with slow sales, has resulted in a bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale,” said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac.

“RealtyTrac now has more than three quarters of a million properties in its active REO database, a number that represents approximately 17 percent of the inventory of existing homes for sale reported in June by the National Association of Realtors.”

The states with the highest foreclosure rates included Nevada, with one foreclosure for every 106 households, California, with one for every 182 households, and Florida, with one for every 186 households.

The states with the highest foreclosure totals included California (72,285), Florida (45,884) and Ohio (13,457).