Kenneth Welt, senior U.S. bankruptcy trustee for the Southern District of Florida, said strong demand is gobbling up the inventory of distressed real estate sold through a pilot program designed to bypass foreclosure.

When he launched the program in September 2014, Welt said it had taken nearly a decade to persuade lenders to sell properties directly out of bankruptcy court in short sales instead of moving cases to state court for foreclosures.

In the last six months, he's closed the sale of 15 houses after borrowers surrendered the properties in bankruptcy. He said new cases in the past week generated five more potential deals.