A thousand foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday in California last month. And that is just the front line of a crisis that is still spreading across the nation.

Despite the pledges and efforts by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and mortgage lenders to help troubled homeowners, it is clear that there has been no stemming of the tide of foreclosures.

Foreclosure filings in April were up 65 percent from a year ago, and up 4 percent from March, according to RealtyTrac, an online real-estate-data company. The company compiles default notices, auction-sale notices, and bank repossessions.

"The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said.

The data show that one in every 519 households in the United States received a foreclosure filing in April.

Housing prices are still falling, but a weak economy and tighter credit are not making much of impact in reducing the glut of houses.

"Inventory levels have soared to unprecedented levels'' Brian Fabbri, chief North American economist for BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News. "Builders and homeowners have to lower their prices significantly to sell that inventory out."

The wave of foreclosures is already pressing prices lower. The Los Angeles Times' L.A. Land blog, which cited the auction-tracking firm Foreclosure Radar for the 1,000-homes-a-day figure, says that lenders are cutting prices sharply at courthouse auctions to avoid taking possession of foreclosures. "Still, the auctions are usually uneventful and usually do not attract serious bids," the blog says.