``We believe that the opportunities, particularly in difficult situations, are in the debt,'' said Zell, who is looking to buy both real estate debt and distressed corporate debt now trading at a discount. He declined to be specific.
The U.S. may see the bottom of the single-family housing market early next year, Zell, 66, said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television. ``I think it will be relatively fragile as confidence builds and it will take probably another year for confidence to be completely returned.''
Zell sold Equity Office Properties Trust, then the biggest U.S. commercial landlord, for $39 billion to Blackstone Group LP in 2007 and isn't yet ready to start buying property again, he said. Existing U.S. home sales fell to a 10-year low in the second quarter and rising residential foreclosures have prompted banks to curtail all real estate lending.
``I think the real estate market as a whole is fairly priced,'' Zell said. ``I think from a yield point of view, it might be attractive. But I am a capital investor and an entrepreneur, and I need to be able to invest in situations that by virtue of changing them, I can dramatically change value.''
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