The deterioration of Hawai'i's economy and housing market helped produce another surge in foreclosure filings last month.

Statewide foreclosure filings more than tripled to 537 in February over 143 in the same month last year, according to real estate research firm RealtyTrac.

It was only the second time that Hawai'i foreclosure filings have been above 500, and the third time over 400 since RealtyTrac began collecting and reporting data in 2006. Filings totaled 594 in September and 499 in December. The monthly average for all of last year was 278.

The surge of 276 percent last month was higher than any other state on a percentage basis, though the rate of filings per household — one filing per 944 households in Hawai'i — was worse in 26 other states.

The national average was one filing per 440 households. Nationally, there were 290,631 foreclosure filings in February, up 30 percent from a year earlier.

Real estate industry observers note that Hawai'i's rate of increase likely is higher than other states because the slowdown in the local real estate market lagged behind most Mainland markets. Also, some other states have implemented foreclosure moratoriums that are reducing or delaying foreclosures.

Hawai'i's rank among other states had consistently been among the 10 best until the middle of last year, when Hawai'i fell closer to the middle.

Some local foreclosure attorneys and real estate experts question the accuracy of the reports by California-based RealtyTrac because the company includes commercial property in its count, which has a significant impact in Hawai'i because of the sizable number of condotels and timeshare units in the state, many of which have faced foreclosure.

Additionally, RealtyTrac doesn't collect data from some rural areas, which may give states with big rural populations lower rankings.

RealtyTrac said it collects data from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, representing about 90 percent of the U.S. population.

Questions aside, industry observers agree that higher property value declines in recent months and continued constriction of home sales have made avoiding foreclosure harder for many people who can't pay or refinance their mortgage in a poor economic climate that has included widespread cuts in wages and jobs.

The state reported yesterday that Hawai'i's unemployment rate in January was 6.1 percent, the highest it's been since April 1983.

Hawai'i's Legislature this year introduced a number of bills that sought to stem rising foreclosures, but local foreclosure attorney Marvin Dang said none appear to be on a path toward passage.

Dang said it's hard to gauge whether the present level of home foreclosures is worse than what it was during Hawai'i's last housing slump in the mid-1990s.

Back then, there were typically 300 to 400 monthly foreclosures initiated. Since August, when national and global financial markets came unglued, Hawai'i foreclosure filings reported by RealtyTrac have been above 300.

However, foreclosure filings counted by RealtyTrac include a range of document filings from default notices to auction notices to repurchases of property by a lender. For many years, nearly all foreclosures have occurred outside court and are difficult to precisely count, as opposed to the 1990s when the majority of foreclosures were initiated by lawsuit and could easily be counted.

RealtyTrac said it doesn't repeatedly count filings on the same property if more than one foreclosure document is filed against the same property within the time it usually takes to complete a foreclosure.

Last month, RealtyTrac's count of Hawai'i foreclosure filings included 102 default notices, 364 trustee sale notices and 71 properties repurchased by a lender.

By county, Honolulu, or O'ahu, had 246 filings, or one per 1,361 households. Compared with other local counties, that was the highest number of filings but the lowest rate per households.

The Big Island had 143 filings, or one per 543 households. Maui had 111 filings, or one per 585 households. Kaua'i had 37 filings, or one per 789 households.