RALEIGH - A credit crunch is limiting investment in real estate and cooling property prices across the country and region. But that isn't stopping a Raleigh investor from testing the market with three Wake County warehouses.

South Forest Investors is offering three 10,000-square foot warehouses in Zebulon, Raleigh and Wake Forest for $3.2 million. "They have good value," said John Bruckel, the group's manager. "And I think it's a good time to sell."

Bruckel has heard from several interested groups, despite a lending crunch that is making it harder for investors to borrow money. None, however, have made bids for the portfolio, which has been marketed among brokers since last week, he said.

Bruckel said that he may ultimately choose not to sell: "This is a toe in the water."

The properties, which have a tax value of $2.06 million, are leased by The News and Observer Publishing Co. and are used as distribution centers.

The newspaper company has five years remaining on one of the leases and nine years on the others, said Richard Rinehart, the N&O's senior vice president of operations and strategic planning.

The publisher expects to occupy the buildings through the terms of the leases. "The fact that he's trying to sell these won't change our distribution operations," Rinehart said.

If Bruckel ends up selling, he said he would reinvest proceeds into real estate. None would go to Bloomsbury Estates, the condominium project he is building on the fringe of downtown Raleigh.

That project is to open in December, about a year after initially expected.

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