WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS- Five Louisiana metropolitan areas have moved up the ladder in the number of residents in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac said Thursday that New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport-Bossier City, Lafayette and Houma-Thibodaux all saw foreclosure activity increase for the first half of 2011 as compared with the first six months of 2010.

RealtyTrac surveyed 211 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more. The Louisiana markets bucked a trend in which 178 of national metro areas had a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity.

The foreclosure-related actions weren't broken down in Thursday's report. They range from an initial default notice to outright repossession by a lender.