The Capital Region’s mortgage crisis showed no signs of cooling down this summer, as the number of homes in various stages of foreclosure during the second quarter more than tripled over the year, according to statistics released Friday by RealtyTrac.com.

As multi-billion-dollar housing relief legislation passed Saturday by Congress heads toward the desk of President Bush, heightened foreclosure activity is spreading through U.S. cities. Ninety-five of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas posted annual foreclosure increases during the quarter, compared to 90 for the previous three-month period.

In the five-county area around Albany, foreclosure activity rose 276.6 percent, compared to a year earlier, to 1,062 by June 30. Foreclosure activity, which includes default and auction notices plus repossessions, was up 74.8 percent from 608 during the previous quarter, according to RealtyTrac.com, an Irvine, Calif. nationwide foreclosure tracking firm.

Although foreclosure activity remains spotty in the region — as compared to more problematic metros areas in Nevada, Florida and California — it is becoming a more concentrated problem. By the end of the second quarter, one out of every 356 households in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties were in foreclosure. That ratio for the first quarter was one out of every 622 households.

Nationwide, foreclosure activity over the year rose 121 percent, to 739.714. It was up 14 percent from the previous quarter. Every one out of 171 U.S. households were in foreclosure. That ratio continued to be highest in Stockton, Calif., where it was one in 25 households.