Foreclosures didn’t jump much over last year in the Tampa Bay area, but they remain high and steady.

The region reported 4,265 foreclosure filings in February, including 612 bank auctions and 271 repossessions, according to the firm RealtyTrac.

That’s 15 percent above the 3,704 filings in February 2007 and 1 percent over the 4,210 filings in January 2008.

The vast majority foreclosure cases counted by RealtyTrac are mortgage default notices that won’t end in home confiscation. The company also tracks multiple default notices filed against a single property, which leads to double counting.

RealtyTrac said 1 out of 296 homes was in some stage of default, making us the 28th most hardest hit out of 229 metro areas in the nation.

In Florida, only Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale appeared in the list of the 10 worst hit markets. Most were in California.