values to recover completely. many still under water on their mortgage. nobody wants to go to the closing table and pay the bank to get out of the house. everybody is waiting it out until the value of the home increases a little bit more. reporter: as they wait to sell, many builders are trying to keep up with demand. look at this image from boca raton, florida. sorry, too late. sold. doug smith, a builder in virginia, checking in with world news. we sold 43 homes in the month of january. it makes it the best january for us since 2005. reporter: employees returning to the job there in virginia. we loved hearing that. and economists reminding all of us that our homes are the largest investment, so when values go up, so does consumer confidence and the dow closing at its highest level in five years, the best start since 1989. incredible. best start since 89. that is encouraging news. four years ago, it was like in the 7,000 range. so to be near 14,000 is important fiscally