Residential foreclosure postings in North Texas reached the lowest level in three years, research firm Foreclosure Listing Service said Tuesday. This year, 56,358 Dallas-Fort Worth homes were posted for foreclosure sales, down 12% from last year when 63,835 homes were posted for foreclosure sales. The data is for the upcoming Dec. 6 foreclosure auctions, which will close out 2011 sheriffs’ sales of foreclosed properties in Dallas-Fort Worth. All four counties within the DFW region experienced a decline in foreclosure posting activity compared to last year’s totals. Among the four counties, Dallas County postings declined the most from a year ago, 14%. It also had the highest volume of home foreclosure filings among the four counties. Collin County ranked second with a 13% fall in foreclosure postings; Denton County came in third at 11%; and Tarrant County felt the smallest decrease at 9%. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, fourth-quarter foreclosure notices rose 9% to 14,035 from 12,876 in the third quarter. Year-over-year, fourth quarter residential foreclosure postings on DFW homes fell 11% to 13,978 from 15,754 in the same period a year earlier. Denton County, experienced the biggest drop, 15%, over the year-ago period, followed by Collin County, down 14%; Dallas County, down 12%  and Tarrant County, down 9%.. In each of the last four years, DFW annual home foreclosure postings topped 50,000. In 2008, home postings hit 50,000 for the first time at 50,324. And in 2009, foreclosure posting activity reached 60,000 for the first time at 61,676. The record high occurred in 2010 with 63,835 postings filed on area homes. Write to Justin T. Hilley. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHilley.