Excerpt:

In the rocky suburbs of Las Vegas, meanwhile, Angelo, Gordon & Co. recently paid $35 million for land parcels zoned for about 2,500 residential lots. That is roughly half the amount the former owner sank into the property for roads, sewers and other infrastructure alone. At the same time, land investor SunCal Cos. is working with firms like D.E. Shaw & Co. to close a dozen land deals in Arizona and California.

Land speculation of course is highly risky. Some major institutions like the California Public Employees' Retirement System got clobbered on land investments made during the boom. And while prices have fallen steeply and the housing industry has shown signs of stabilization, deals depend on land appreciating in value because it doesn't yield any income.