Foreclosure filings in Alabama fell in September from the previous month, but the year-over-year comparison shows a grimmer scenario, according to California mortgage researcher RealtyTrac.

Last month, there were 724 Alabama homes in some stage of mortgage foreclosure, or 1 for every 2,915 households, giving the state the 10th-lowest foreclosure rate, the firm said this morning.

The numbers are a 12.5 percent drop from August but a 53 percent rise from September 2007, RealtyTrac said.

Despite a rise in filings during the third quarter, the foreclosure rate for the Birmingham-Hoover metro area ranked No. 98 among the nation’s 100 biggest cities, the firm said.

The 587 foreclosure filings during the three-month period equaled 0.13 percent of the area’s households.

The number of Birmingham area filings in the third quarter rose 71 percent from the same period in 2007.

The city with the highest rate was Stockton, Calif., with 3.69 percent of homes in some stage of foreclosure, RealtyTrac said.