DENVER (AP) — New foreclosure auction sales were down 26 percent in Colorado during the first half of 2012 compared to the first half of 2011.

According to a report released Thursday by the Colorado Division of Housing, auction sales during the second quarter hit the lowest level reported since the division began compiling foreclosure data in 2007.

There were nearly 3,800 foreclosure auction sales, or completed foreclosures, reported during the second quarter of 2012 and just over 8,000 during the first half of the year.

The agency says new foreclosure filings rose slightly during the first half of the year, rising 2.8 percent from the first half of 2011.

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