US regulators have closed five banks, bringing the total of US bank failures to 45 this year as falling home prices take their toll on financial institutions.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said the five banks which were closed on Friday were Community Bank of West Georgia and Neighborhood Community Bank in the state of Georgia; Horizon Bank, of Pine City, Minnesota; MetroPacific Bank, of Irvine, California; and Mirae Bank, of Los Angeles.

Despite the US government’s efforts to drive its economy out of the 18-month-old recession, bank failures have largely increased this year. There were 25 failures in all of 2008 and just three in 2007.

Seattle-based lender Washington Mutual was closed in September last year to become the biggest bank to fail in US history.

The FDIC has so far put 305 financial institutions on its list of banks in danger of failure. It has not revealed the names of the institutions.