The number of Massachusetts homeowners­ who lost their properties to foreclosure in August fell to 566, about 40 percent fewer compared with the same month last year and the lowest monthly total for 2012, figures released Tuesday showed.

It marked the third consecutive month of declining foreclosures, compared with the same period in 2011, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate. But despite the August decline, higher foreclosure numbers earlier in the year resulted in a year-over-year increase of 8.4 percent for the January-through-August period. In the first eight months of 2012, the firm said, 5,975 homes were lost to foreclosure in Massachusetts.