The foreclosure pipeline is a long way from drying up.

Idaho had the fifth-highest foreclosure rate in the country in August with one out of 348 homes receiving a foreclosure notice during the month, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing firm.

Jack Wheir, vice president and general manager of Alliance Title in Coeur d'Alene, said foreclosures continue to play a large role locally.

"They are still a factor," he said. "There's a large amount of them happening due to the economy. We believe this will continue to happen for the next year.

"It's unfortunate because any time you see a foreclosure, people lose a home and a bank owns the property, which drives up inventory."

Wheir said there were 66 foreclosure sales in Kootenai County in August, which is slightly less than most previous months. There were 133 notices of default - the first step in the foreclosure process - served locally last month. Statewide, there were 1,860 notices.

"Not all of those go into foreclosure because the situation can get rectified," he said. "But it's more than we'd like to see."

There were 125 newly listed, local repossessed properties from July 1 through Aug 31.

There are currently 75 single-family homes under an acre for sale in Kootenai County that are foreclosures, compared to 85 in mid-April, 74 in May, 76 in June and 83 in July.

"We haven't gone up like some areas have," said Ray Murphy, an agent with North Idaho Real Estate. "But distressed properties still put pressure on pricing."

Banks have stepped up their actions against homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, setting the stage for the fresh wave of foreclosures.

The number of U.S. homes that received an initial default notice jumped 33 percent in August from July, according to RealtyTrac.

The increase represents a nine-month high and the biggest monthly gain in four years. The spike signals banks are starting to take swifter action against homeowners, nearly a year after processing issues led to a sharp slowdown in foreclosures.

"This is really the first time we've seen a significant increase in the number of new foreclosure actions," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "It's still possible this is a blip, but I think it's much more likely we're seeing the beginning of a trend here."

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in August with one out of every 118 households receiving a foreclosure notice, followed by California (one out of 226), Arizona (one out of 248) and Georgia (one out of 346).

In all, 228,098 U.S. homes received a foreclosure-related notice last month, a 7 percent increase from July, but a nearly 33 percent decline from August last year.

Foreclosure activity began to slow last fall after problems surfaced with the way many lenders were handling foreclosure paperwork, namely shoddy mortgage paperwork comprising several shortcuts known collectively as robo-signing.

Many of the nation's largest banks reacted by temporarily ceasing all foreclosures, re-filing previously filed foreclosure cases and revisiting pending cases to prevent errors.

Wheir said despite the continued foreclosure factor the overall local real estate market has been "pretty strong" in recent weeks.

"We've seen a pickup in resale activity, which is positive," he said. "The rates (hovering 4 percent) to get a loan are also encouraging."

Wheir said the situation here isn't as dire as some other places.

"We're not in great shape, but we're OK. It's a great place to live, and homes are still affordable," he said.

Murphy said roughly 40 percent of the local sales in some recent months have been with distressed properties.

"If you're able to put some sweat equity into a home, you can get some great deals," he said, adding that foreclosed homes are often not left in good condition and even have items ranging from wiring and fixtures to garage door openers taken.

Wheir said short sales and foreclosures have kept his firm busy - to the point it hasn't had to downsize despite the recession.

"We spend hours and hours on the phone with lenders trying to get approval for an offer," he said. "But it's a great problem to have."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.