More than 16,000 California homeowners foreclosed on their properties in February, a 79- percent increase over the same period last year, said a report on Monday.

This was the second highest level after Florida in the nation, according to the report released by RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosure activity.

California's total of 16,273 foreclosure filings during the month represented a 4-percent increase over January 2007. The state's February foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 751 households was 1.2 times the national average and ranked 13th highest among the states.

Nationally, a total of 130,786 foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- were reported during February, down 4 percent from a revised January total but still up 12 percent from February 2006.

The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 884 U.S. households during the month.

"Based on our numbers for the first two months of 2007, foreclosure activity is running at a rate that would project to a 33 percent increase over 2006," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said of the national figures.

The report provides the total number of homes entering some stage of foreclosure nationwide and by state over the preceding month. The report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: defaults, auctions, and real estate owned (REO) homes that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank.