More than 700 homes in Denton County are scheduled for foreclosure in October — a new all-time high, according to data released Thursday.

Foreclosure notices were served on 710 Denton County homes for auctions scheduled Oct. 6, topping the previous high of 644 in July, according to Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. So far this year, 5,630 Denton County homes have been listed for foreclosure — up 23 percent from this time last year, according to the listing service.

George Roddy Sr., president of the listing company, said the numbers are higher than normal but may not be as dire as they seem.

More homeowners have applied for mortgage loan modifications since a federal program was launched earlier this year. That’s delaying some foreclosures and potentially preventing others, Roddy said.

“A lot of these properties are posted with the lender knowing full well that they’re not going to foreclose in a given month while this loan modification process is being exercised,” he said. “At some point in time, though, the loan modifications are either going to be approved or unapproved, and we will see those properties that do not get approved … get foreclosed.

“The bottom line is, while we see all-time highs in foreclosure postings, we are actually not seeing the same proportionate number of actual foreclosures.”

In the four-county Dallas-Fort Worth listing area, 5,940 homes are posted for foreclosure next month. The first 10 months of the year have seen 50,869 foreclosure notices for homes in the region — a 21 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the listing service.

The listing area covers Dallas, Denton, Collin and Tarrant counties.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.