WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage lenders in April foreclosed on 62 percent more US homes than a year ago as borrowers failed to keep up with loan payments, an industry research firm said yesterday.RealtyTrac Inc. said foreclosures in April spiked to 147,708, compared with 91,168 in 2006, as lenders repossessed one out of every 783 homes. The April figure was down 1 percent from March, when foreclosures hit a two-year high.

Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, California and Ohio posted the top foreclosure rates nationwide, RealtyTrac said.

"We expect foreclosure activity to at least stay above last year's levels for the remainder of 2007, fuelled by a combustible mix of risky loans taken out in the last few years — many in the subprime market — and slowing home price appreciation," James Saccacio, chief executive officer of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, said in a prepared statement.