Bank repossessions climbed 25 percent from a year earlier to 95,364, the most since the data provider began keeping records in 2005. Foreclosure filings, including default and auction notices, fell 5 percent, to 338,836. One of every 381 US households was affected, RealtyTrac said yesterday.

Foreclosures may add as many as 12 million homes to the US market. Yet demand is crumbling amid high unemployment and following the expiration of a federal homebuyer tax credit in April. Sales of new and existing homes fell in July to the lowest level on record. Prices have fallen 28 percent since 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of values in 20 cities.

About 2 million houses will be seized by lenders through 2011, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. Home sales this year will be 7 percent below the 2009 total, Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance company, said.

Default notices are falling while seizures rise because lenders are trying to control the number of properties that enter the foreclosure process, RealtyTrac said. That doesn’t mean more owners are catching up on their mortgage payments, said RealtyTrac’s Rick Sharga. “If the market is left to fend for itself, you may see more serious price depreciation,’’ he said.