Colorado foreclosure activity likely will be lower in 2008 than last year, according to a report published Thursday by state housing officials.

Completed foreclosures fell 14 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period of 2007, according to a report by the Colorado Division of Housing. A total of 16,246 foreclosures were completed.

Officials are forecasting a 13 percent decline in foreclosures for all of 2008.

“2006 and 2007 saw big increases in foreclosure filings of 30 and 40 percent, so a 14 percent decrease so far this year makes us cautiously optimistic about the future,” said Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing, in a statement. “There are still many reasons for concern, but this is good news.”

During the third quarter alone, there were 9 percent fewer completed foreclosures — at 6,454 — than in the same quarter a year earlier. However, foreclosures jumped 66 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter.

The data are skewed by recent changes in Colorado law, including a measure that took effect on Jan. 1 that had the effect of largely suspending foreclosure sales during March and April. Another law that took effect in August had the same impact on statistics during that month, officials said.

Boulder, Broomfield, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, and Larimer counties all reported increases in foreclosures. El Paso had the biggest increase, at 26 percent year over year.

Denver County reported the largest decrease, with foreclosures down 26 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007. Foreclosures dropped 19 percent in Adams County and 20 percent in Weld County.

The report reaffirmed that high foreclosure rates are seen mostly along the Front Range and in eastern Colorado. The highest rate during the third quarter was in Adams County, with one foreclosure for every 58 households. Denver County had one filing for every 73 households, Weld County one for every 74 and Pueblo County one for every 102.

Counties in western Colorado experienced much lower foreclosure rates. Mesa County reported one foreclosure filing for every 756 households, and La Plata County one for every 992 and Garfield County one for every 5,079.

Almost 4,000 households avoided foreclosure during 2008 with the help of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline (1-877-601-HOPE), which has been in place for two years, and its member agencies, state officials said.

“If those 4,000 households had foreclosed, we’d be looking at an increase instead of a decrease in foreclosures,” Williams said.