Whereas large groups of loans in prior months have focused onthe well-known hotbeds of distressed properties—e.g., Florida orLas Vegas—this one includes "all the major MSAs," says Korbar. Thefact that more than half of the assets are multifamily isconsistent with their being close to major city centers, as is thepool's high concentration of retail assets. The pool includesconcentrations of assets in New York, Florida, Massachusetts,California, New Jersey, Illinois and Connecticut.

Investors may be seeing more of these geographically diversepools as 2010 goes on. For sellers, part of the appeal is "reducingconcentration of risk," says Korbar. "Also, you can optimize yourpricing by not just focusing on one distressed region or city. Andthe buyer's advantage is that you have more assets that arenationally dispersed. You open up a whole new buyer's market."

Korbar says that wide geographic spread is a plus for localinvestors, and particularly smaller entities that may only want tobid on one asset. "It promotes buyers that are proximate to theassets," he says. "They know the assets very well, and theyunderstand the intrinsic value, both now and x number ofyears from now. They're not in it to buy it and flip it." At thesame time, he says, "for institutional investors that want toreduce their exposure to any one area, this clearly gives them alot of diversity."