Florida metro areas dominate the top 25 list for cities with the worst foreclosure rates - including the eight highest in the nation, according to a report released Tuesday.

In all, 17 of the top 25 cities with the highest foreclosure rates as of March are Florida cities, according to the Center for Housing Policy, the research arm of the Washington-based National Housing Conference. The national report focused at times on Florida specifically because the state took such a large share of the highest end of its distressed and failed mortgage charts.

With a 10.9 percent foreclosure rate, Jacksonville is ranked 18th overall, but 14 other Florida cities had higher rates. Miami topped the list with the nation's highest rate of 18.2 percent.

"While data found a correlation between unemployment and serious mortgage delinquency rates nationally, many Florida metro areas are experiencing serious delinquency at rates much higher even than the state's above-average unemployment figures would suggest," the report noted.