The average number of unsold homes in any given month last year topped 18,000. That's by far the largest number on record. It would take 10 months for all the unsold homes to find buyers at the pace they were moving in December, compared with three months at the end of 2005, when the slowdown began.

The good news: Buyers are finding the end of rapidly rising prices -- and in some cases, the start of falling ones -- makes it easier to find something they can afford. The bad news: It's harder for people without good credit and/or a significant down payment to get a mortgage. (Of course, depending on your perspective, that's also good news, because many of those subprime, no-money-down loans are going into foreclosure now.)