and prices in the high single digits in terms of growth. >> ron, it's richard lefrak. rginal purchase by institutions and hedge funds speculating in the housing market, not actual users and how that's been affecting the numbers? >> well, richard, that's a great question, and i think, you know, clearly those large purchases of blocks of real estate have gone a long way to, you know, to absorb distressed real estate that has been in the market. and i think they created a simple venue for banks or investors that are or mortgage entities that were looking to unload those in a very quick way. those investors have improved those properties. they've provided a rental venue for customers and clients that, in many cases, are not credit worthy and cannot get a mortgage and i think those are going to be tremendous investments. there's not a hard asset outthere in housing that can be rebuilt for the price that people are buying these homes at 30% to 40% discount par value. >> in view of how powerful the brand name is, i'm a little surprised that since you announced it last october,