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Area homeowners caught a break in May, as lenders repossessed significantly fewer properties during the month.

A total of 305 homes entered foreclosure in metro Tulsa last month, according to real estate data service RealtyTrac Inc.

The resulting foreclosure rate of one for every 1,344 homes was 28 percent lower than April and 44.34 percent below May 2013.

The state of Oklahoma, with its foreclosure rate of one for every 2,213 homes, now has the 33rd highest rate among the 50 states.

By comparison, the national foreclosure rate of one for every 1,199 homes was down 5.2 percent from April and 25.8 percent lower than the same time last year.

RealtyTrac noted that foreclosures in the U.S. are now at their lowest rate since December 2006. Yet 11 states still showed annual foreclosure increases, as well as metro areas such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Daren Blomquist, vice president of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, said differing foreclosure regulations resulted in the increases.