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Sarasota News Leader July 26, 2013 OPINION Page 74 tractors, and with many of those wanting to ing up the process of completing the foreclobuy homes out of work, it is also understand- sures that are already in the courts. Their stated reason was that there was a logjam of able that new houses were not being built. foreclosures clogging our courts. NEW ECONOMIC FORCES This year, with unemployment down and the economy picking up, it is natural that homes have finally started to sell — market forces have prevailed. The inventory of existing homes available on the market has been reduced. While the news media says there was a four-year inventory of homes for sale (it would take four years to sell all the houses listed) and there is now only a three-and-ahalf-month inventory, the change is not as dramatic as it seems. If you have 120 houses listed and you sell one this month, it is considered that you have a 10-year inventory. If you sell one extra house, you have only a five-year inventory. Seemingly small changes have great effects. Evidence of the turnaround, in one form or another, has been in the news media almost daily. Unemployment is down; consumer confidence is up; home prices are up; hedge funds are buying up homes to rent (to people who have lost their homes); new hotels are planned; the stock market is hitting alltime highs; condos are being built in Sarasota; apartment complexes are being sold to new owners; multi-lot tracts of land are changing hands — the list goes on. There is no question that the Florida judicial system has a large buildup of unresolved foreclosure cases. However, questions might be asked about that: Does this buildup reduce the supply of homes for sale; does it slow down the sale of homes; does it raise the specter of a new housing bubble with higher and higher prices; and finally, in summary, is this backlog a good or a bad thing? The buildup of foreclosures in the courts did not reduce the supply of homes for sale. Homes were not on the market because banks were not loaning money to developers; banks were not giving mortgages to potential buyers; banks were not following through on short sales; and many people were unemployed and could not afford to purchase homes. With the upturn in the economy, developers are now moving from the planning to the construction phase. The lead-time from designing to building has nothing to do with the foreclosures still in dispute. In fact, the delay in processing foreclosures means that those homeowners marginally underwater can now, thanks to the simple passage of time, sell their homes without losing money. This increases the supply of homes for sale and reduces the backlog in the courts. Yet, during the 2013 legislative session the The buildup of foreclosures in the courts does Florida Senate and House passed a bill, which not slow down the sale of homes. Recent artiGov. Rick Scott signed, with the aim of speed- cles have stated there are thousands of homes