The number of Sacramento area homes that received an initial foreclosure notice in August went up 76% from the month before. Statewide, it was 55%.

(view an interactive map detailing California real estate trends)

"It's actually, in a weird way, a little bit of a good sign."

RealtyTrac's Daren Blomquist says it's an indication that lenders believe they can find new buyers for those homes.

"It shows that they are at least somewhat confident in the market in California to be able to absorb those properties. And we see some evidence of that in our numbers."

Those numbers show that, at the current sales pace, it would take lenders 10 months to sell off their inventory of distressed properties.

That's down from earlier this year, when RealtyTrac calculated it would take 13 months.