Distress Properties

DistressYear-end bonuses for people at hedge funds, asset-managementfirms and insuranc'e companies probably will drop an average20 percent, the firm said. "There's a lot of distress," said Tracy McLaughlin,co-owner of Morgan Lane Real Estate in Ross, California,north of San Francisco. "You have hedge-fund guys whosefunds evaporated and a year-and-a-half later they're stillnot working." The entry-level segment of the housing market was aided thisyear by an $8,000 first-time buyers tax credit that pushedresales to a 6.1 million annual pace in October, the highestsince February 2007, the National Association of Realtorssaid in a Nov. 23 report. President Barack Obama signed a bill last month extendingthe program into next year. The new version keeps thefirst-time buyer benefit and makes a smaller creditavailable to some move-up buyers. It can't be used forhomes priced above $800,000.