Home foreclosures in Wisconsin rose to a new monthly high in October, adding to a 23 percent increase in the number of filings in the state for the first 10 months of 2008.

According to data released Wednesday by ForeclosuresWI.com, a provider of Wisconsin foreclosure resources and statistics, 2,701 homes entered foreclosure in October 2008, bringing the year-to-date Wisconsin foreclosures up to 20,861, nearly 23 percent higher than the first 10 months of 2007. The previous monthly high was 2,443 filings in January 2008.

"Wisconsin foreclosures have been building up to the current levels for the past three years,” said Robert Jansen, president of ForeclosuresWI.com. “While new foreclosure filings appear to be leveling off, monthly filings remain over double what they were just five years ago.”

Milwaukee County leads the state in foreclosure filings with 5,227 over the first 10 months of 2008, nearly 52 percent higher for the period than a year ago.

"There is no doubt it will take time for these properties to get through the system, said Jansen” Going beyond the subprime issues, the current economic conditions and unemployment rates are also now feeding the housing market problems.”