For the first time in 28 months, the number of foreclosure starts on a year-over-year basis were on the upswing nationwide in May, according to the latest report released by RealtyTrac.

Foreclosure starts, which can be counted as either the number of default notices filed or the number of scheduled foreclosure auctions (depending on the state reporting) totaled 109,051 U.S. properties in May, a 12 percent monthly increase and up 16 percent from May 2011.

“Based on the rise in pre-foreclosure sales we’ve seen so far this year, a higher percentage of these new foreclosure starts will likely end up as short sales or auction sales to third parties rather than bank repossessions going forward,” said RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore.

In its May 2012 U.S. Foreclosure Report, RealtyTrac reported foreclosure starts increased in 33 out of the 50 states. Broken down by the foreclosure procedure the particular states utilize, 17 of the 33 were judicial foreclosure states while 16 were non-judicial foreclosure states. Foreclosure starts were up annually in 17 of the 26 judicial foreclosure states and in 16 of the 24 non-judicial states.

“Our first quarter foreclosure sales report showed that the average price of a pre-foreclosure home was more than $27,000 higher than the average price of a bank-owned home — which quickly adds up given that there have been an average of 1.6 million nationwide foreclosure starts per year for the past five years,” Moore noted.

Here are the states with the highest number of foreclosure starts for May:

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