Despite national news to the contrary, residential foreclosures in the Pittsburgh region fell in January from a year ago.

Foreclosures across the five-county region, which includes Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, decreased 2.3 percent from January 2007, according to a recent survey by RealSTATs.

While foreclosures increased 48.4 percent in Beaver County, 41.7 percent in Butler County and 52.9 percent in Westmoreland County, those drops were offset by an 11.4 percent decrease in foreclosures in Allegheny County and a 51.4 percent decrease in Washington County.

Communities with significant increases in January foreclosures included Penn Hills with 11 more compared with one year ago, New Kensington with eight more, and Aliquippa and North Huntington each with seven more. Swissvale and Tarentum each logged six more foreclosures this January, while New Brighton and the city's 19th Ward each increased by five.

Penn Hills had the most foreclosures in the region with 27, followed by New Kensington with 11; Pittsburgh's 19th Ward and Aliquippa, 10; Wilkinsburg, nine; McKeesport and New Brighton, eight; North Huntingdon, seven; and Pittsburgh's 20th Ward, Swissvale and Tarentum, each with six.

The city's 27th Ward, however, saw five fewer foreclosures this January, according to RealSTATS, a research company that tracks all recorded real estate transactions in Pittsburgh area counties.