The nation’s recession and the housing bubble burst effectively stalled the housing market, leaving homes on the market for lengthier periods of time even as sale prices significantly dropped.

The economic climate was just as brutal, if not more, for the home building industry. Robert Dietz, vice president of the National Association of Home Builders, summed up the situation this month before the Senate Finance Committee during a hearing regarding the country’s tax policy for homeowners.

“The decline in home construction has been historic and unprecedented. Single-family housing production peaked in early 2006 at an annual rate of 1.8 million homes, but construction fell to 353,000 per year in early 2009, an 80 percent decline in activity,” Dietz said. “A normal year driven by underlying demographics should see 1.5 million single-family homes produced. If home building were operating at a normal level, there would be 3.3 million more jobs in home building and related trades.”