2010 was a record-setting year for foreclosure filings in the U.S., with almost 2.9 million properties being forecloses on nationwide. But more than half of those filings happened in California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois, or Michigan.

RealtyTrac.com has released its roundup of 2010’s foreclosure numbers, and those five states accounted for 51% of foreclosure filings in the U.S. last year.

California, the most populous state in the nation, was responsible for the most foreclosures (546,669). Florida was second with 485,286. Arizona, the least populous of the five states, was a distant third with 155,878, beating out Illinois’ 151,304. Michigan was fifth with 135,874 foreclosure filings.

Let’s not forget about Nevada, whose 106,160 wasn’t enough to be included in that top five, but still represented a whopping 9.42% of the state’s housing units, making it the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Arizona was second on that list with 5.73% of its housing units facing foreclosure, while Florida’s 5.51% was high enough to make it the third worst rate in the country. California was fourth with 4.08%.

It looks like these rankings could change next year, as all of the top four states saw a decrease in foreclosures between 2009 and 2010. California alone saw a 13.58% drop. Meanwhile, the other states on the list saw dramatic jumps in their foreclosure numbers.

The biggest year-over-year jump was in Georgia, where there was a 23.42% increase in the number of foreclosures. Utah, Illinois, Michigan and Idaho all saw double-digit increases in foreclosure filings last year.

Record 2.9 Million U.S. Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings in 2010 Despite 30-Month Low in December [ReatlyTrac]

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