In a story in the Thursday paper I told you that foreclosures in the Twin Cities had fallen to the lowest level since 2006, according to a recent report from the Minnesota Homeownership Center. A new report released Thursday afternoon by RealtyTrac said the same thing is happening across the country. The group said that in January foreclosure starts across the country fell 7 percent from the previous month to a six-year low. While that's good news, foreclosure auctions increased in 26 states - a symptom of broad variations in the way foreclosures are processed, and a sign that the economic recovery isn't happening evenly across the country.

RealtyTrac said that during January one in every 869 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month compared with one in every 1,244 housing units in Minnesota. Here's a link to the full report.

- Jim Buchta