Although fewer foreclosed homes are being sold at auction in Colorado, the number of foreclosure filings is up.

According to data from the Colorado Division of Housing, the number of foreclosure filings rose 3.5 percent to a total of 2,056 between February 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, sales were down by 6.7 percent.

In El Paso County, however, February foreclosure filings were up 4.5 percent from last year. They were up nearly 12 percent in Pueblo County.

One Colorado Springs Home currently under foreclosure is on the 800 block of Skyway Boulevard. Four years ago, it sold for $205,000. Now it has been foreclosed and is on the market for $70,000 less.

The filing of foreclosure represents the start of the legal process, and sales represent the final stage. Not all filings need to reach that stage and, in fact, the Division of Housing says that the total number of completed foreclosures is usually smaller than the number of filings.

The Division of Housing says the number of foreclosure filings is considered a useful indicator of future foreclosure sales and recent mortgage delinquency activity.