One hundred foreclosed homes were sold in the January through March period, down from 134 in the first quarter of 2008.

Foreclosure filings, however, increased 5 percent, to 291 in the quarter, up from 278 during the same period last year.

Foreclosure filings indicate people who are seriously delinquent in their housing payments, while sales indicate the number of homes that are eventually sold through the foreclosure process, according to the Division of Housing.

Having a home sold through foreclosure is generally the most harmful to a homeowners’ credit, according to the division, and it also means the owners lose all equity in the property that is sold.

Statewide, there was a 26 percent drop in foreclosure sales during the quarter, to 4,354 from 5,899 last year.

Foreclosure filings statewide were also down, to 10,745 from 11,634 last year.

The Division of Housing’s report showed that the 12 most populous counties in Colorado account for 95 percent of foreclosure activity, and counties with the highest foreclosure rates tend to be along the Front Range.

In the Denver metro area, Boulder County had the lowest foreclosure rate at 1 completed foreclosure for every 1,157 households.

Among other metro-area counties, Adams County, with 1 filing for every 238 households and Weld County, with 1 filing every 245 households, had the highest rates.