Chittenden County foreclosures have more than doubled compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the state banking department today.

Statewide, the pace for foreclosure filings also continued to rise briskly in year-over-year comparisons.

Foreclosure filings have increased 119 percent in Chittenden County to 149 filings through June, according to data tracked by the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration.

Throughout Vermont, foreclosures have increased by 50 percent to 866 filings during the same period.

The primary reasons Vermonters are falling into foreclosure are because jobs are being lost or households are earning less money, said Tom Candon, deputy commissioner with the state banking department.

“Eighty-five percent of people are having problems with the economy in the general,” he said, referring to those who are calling the department’s foreclosure help line.Through the first half of last year, there were 68 foreclosure filings in Chittenden County and 576 filings in Vermont, according to the state’s data.

In recent months, Vermont has dodged the bulk of the turmoil in the nation’s real estate market. Home prices have held relatively stable and there has been a smaller percentage of mortgage holders in Vermont who have fallen behind, compared to other states.

Candon said he expects that trend to continue.

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