WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report shows foreclosure filings have fallen throughout the Washington area over the past two years.

The Washington Examiner reports that only Maryland went against the national trend and saw an increase in foreclosures last year. The foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac says Maryland saw foreclosure filings increase 19 percent. But since 2010, foreclosures have still dropped nearly 60 percent in Maryland.

Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, says “Maryland has just been slow” because it’s harder to do foreclosures in the state. Maryland passed a law in 2010 to help homeowners avoid impending foreclosures, but some economists say the measure just delayed the inevitable in many cases.

The District of Columbia had the region’s most-improved foreclosure statistics.

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