By Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey once again claimed the infamous honor of leading the nation in foreclosures in 2017.

But that's largely because foreclosures take longer to play out in New Jersey, and there are signs things are definitely improving.

Nearly 70,000 properties went through the foreclosure process in the state last year, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. That's far from the rest of the nation, which is experiencing 12-year lows, according to the report.

But it's less than the roughly 74,000 in 2016, and there's another silver lining: Foreclosure starts — typically when homeowners receive a notice of default — declined. They are essentially the first step in the foreclosure process, so the improvement is notable.

On the other hand, bank foreclosures — typically one of the last steps in the process — increased last year. New Jersey had an inherently longer foreclosure process because it is a judicial foreclosure state, said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of ATTOM. Contested court cases must go through a judge.

"So the foreclosure framework has bandwidth limitations," he said.

The state also has many consumer protections that slow down the foreclosure process, said Steven Neuner, a South Jersey-based lawyer that advises clients facing foreclosure.

In the last quarter of 2017, the state took 1,300 days on average to foreclose a housing unit, one of the longest periods in the nation.

"There are many procedural steps to avoid foreclosure," Neuner said, such as a 30-day notification of intent to foreclose. "They're intended to protect borrowers."

Peter McAleer, a spokesman for the state Judiciary, said that attorneys and lenders often take extra time to file a complaint after a mortgage becomes delinquent, and the time needed to hold a sheriff's auction adds to the wait.

More than half of all New Jersey properties in foreclosure were first mortgaged between 2004 and 2008. Blomquist said those loans are the most likely to default.

"To the extent that we still see those in the foreclosure process at a disproportionately high level, it is an indication of to what degree a given market is still dealing with bad loans originated during the last housing bubble," Blomquist said.

Don't Edit

21. Hudson County

Foreclosures: 2,094 (one for every 131 houses)

Change from 2016: -11 percent

Don't Edit

20. Somerset County

Foreclosures: 1,080 (one for every 115 houses)

Change from 2016: -21 percent

Don't Edit

19. Bergen County

Foreclosures: 3,357 (one for every 105 houses)

Change from 2016: -15 percent

Don't Edit

18. Cape May County

Foreclosures: 939 (one for every 105 houses)

Change from 2016: -27 percent

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

17. Morris County

Foreclosures: 1,891 (one for every 101 houses)

Change from 2016: -14 percent

Don't Edit

16. Hunterdon County

Foreclosures: 600 (one for every 83 houses)

Change from 2016: -21 percent

Don't Edit

15. Middlesex County

Foreclosures: 3,700 (one for every 81 houses)

Change from 2016: -10 percent

Don't Edit

14. Essex County

Foreclosures: 4,388 (one for every 72 houses)

Change from 2016: -31 percent

Don't Edit

13. Passaic County

Foreclosures: 2,611 (one for every 68 houses)

Change from 2016: -25 percent

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

12. Ocean County

Foreclosures: 4,684 (one for every 60 houses)

Change from 2016: -10 percent

Don't Edit

11. Mercer County

Foreclosures: 2,415 (one for every 60 houses)

Change from 2016: -23 percent

Trenton had the second-highest rate of foreclosures among metropolition areas across the country. Nearly 1.7 percent of its homes were under foreclosure in 2017.

Don't Edit

10. Union County

Foreclosures: 3,415 (one for every 59 houses)

Change from 2016: -19 percent

Don't Edit

9. Monmouth County

Foreclosures: 4,533 (one for every 57 houses)

Change from 2016: -4 percent

Don't Edit

8. Warren County

Foreclosures: 959 (one for every 47 houses)

Change from 2016: 5 percent

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

7. Burlington County

Foreclosures: 4,367 (one for every 41 houses)

Change from 2016: 0 percent

Don't Edit

6. Cumberland County

Foreclosures: 1,462 (one for every 38 houses)

Change from 2016: -3 percent

Don't Edit

5. Atlantic County

Foreclosures: 3,461 (one for every 37 houses)

Change from 2016: -20 percent

Don't Edit

4. Gloucester County

Foreclosures: 3,038 (one for every 37 houses)

Change from 2016: 0 percent

Don't Edit

3. Camden County

Foreclosures: 5,686 (one for every 36 houses)

Change from 2016: -14 percent

Camden had the highest number of foreclosures in 2017 along with the third-highest rate.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

2. Sussex County

Foreclosures: 1,936 (one for every 32 houses)

Change from 2016: 2 percent

Don't Edit

1. Salem County

Foreclosures: 943 (one for every 29 houses)

Change from 2016: 18 percent

Foreclosures in Salem and Sussex County rose steadily from 2006 to 2010, then dipped for several years, rising again in 2013. Salem County also had the biggest increase in foreclosures from 2016 to 2017, far outstripping the second-highest increase in Warren County.

Don't Edit

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Read more N.J. data reporting