As sales drop off, the inventory of unsold houses builds up quickly.

The backlog of unsold houses is now up to 3,500 in the valley, still home to about 250,000 people.

In October there was a seven-month supply of unsold houses.

Asking prices for the unsold houses, two on the ocean, are $880,000 to $1.35 million.

At the end of the month, builders held 379,000 finished but unsold houses, the highest level in 16 years.

Why build now, at a time when the inventory of unsold houses in the area is high?

Appraisers have to guess the price that an unsold older house might bring.

The stock of unsold houses hit a record high.

In the last year, prices have dropped about 6 percent, and unsold houses now cost $235,000 to $260,000, he said.

The supply of unsold houses on the market hit a record high.