Already stung by record home foreclosures since the housing crisis began in 2006, the report for 2010 was even worse. Banks seized an all-time high of 1 million U.S. homes in 2010. Analysts are forecasting that 2011 will be no better, and perhaps much worse.

With foreclosure filings going out to 1 in every 45 homeowners, it’s hard to imagine the problem getting any more severe, but it is. The high unemployment rate, weak economy, tougher new rules for refinancing, and continuing decline of home prices are all contributing to the rising number of home repossessions.

According to Rick Sharga, senior VP of RealtyTrac Inc., “2011 is going to be the peak.” RealtyTrac keeps tabs of all home default notices, as well as home repossessions and auctions.

The numbers may have been higher, but the last two months of 2010 saw banks putting a temporary hold on new foreclosures so that they could review their paperwork process. This was due to the allegations of improper evictions.

Sharga now says that this has passed and lenders are beginning to resume foreclosures. The first quarter of 2011 is expected to show much higher numbers again.

Sharga has also said that we have not reached the bottom yet on housing prices. He is saying we can expect to see another 5 percent decline nationally this year before finally hitting a bottom point. One in five homeowners with a mortgage now owe more on the loan than what the home is worth, and this additional decline will only inflate that figure.

Where are foreclosures the worst? It continues to be in the same states that have been hit the hardest, California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. Illinois and Michigan are also among those in crisis due to the severe economy. In Illinois, the new tax hike recently approved will further flame the problem.

Nevada has the dubious distinction of leading the way in 2010 with the highest foreclosure rate. One out of every 11 homes in Nevada had a foreclosure filing posted on their door. Arizona and Florida round out the top three.