A Lot to Like, and Maybe to Buy

"Frankly, people now can afford part of the dream but not the whole dream," he said. They will opt for a new kitchen or master bedroom rather than a whole new house.

Regardless of income, building your own home takes a lot of time, Hastings said, and in places like Loudoun County, with slow-growth policies, buyers may have to jump through many hoops to get permits.

In Calvert County, slow-growth policies are making custom building slower, said Don Frederick, an agent with Re/Max 100 in Camp Springs who often works in Calvert. However, lot prices have dipped there, too, and subcontractors are more plentiful, meaning it's possible to build your dream house more cheaply if you can get the financing, he said. If you're certain you want to build, now's probably a good time, he said.

In Prince George's County, where the number of lots listed has jumped to 575 in the most recent 12 months from 381 in 2003-04, "nobody's buying any lots," said Nick D'Ambrosia, a broker with GMAC Real Estate Service Center in Largo.

Nobody's trying to dump lots, either, he said, but if he could find an interested buyer, he could cut a deal.

"I could find a builder 200 lots in a couple of hours," he said.

Kim Edson, a buyer's agent for Re/Max Advantage in Columbia, said she would encourage a client to buy a newly built tract house rather than an empty lot because the same market conditions that are lowering land prices are also lowering new-house prices.

"A lot of builders are offering great incentives on existing homes," she said.

Reeser of Oella, who rehabbed a house in Fells Point and enjoyed it, said that while home prices might be lower, she doesn't want to go the renovation route again.

"It's very hard work," she said. "I loved doing it, but at my age, I want comfort and amenities."

For her, a tract house is not an option: She likes to live in historic areas. In such places, single lots sometimes are available.

She is considering two Ellicott City lots: one is almost half an acre for $275,000, and the other is 1.12 acres for $375,000.

For Chris and Bill Mitchell, the decision to subdivide their seven-acre lot in Howard County and build the home where they will retire was easy: They found the land they own prettier and more private than anything else they saw for sale in the county.

They sold their farmhouse with three acres of land, moved into a two-bedroom cottage near Annapolis and hired an architect, who is now working with them to design a solar-powered, one-story house on their remaining four acres.

While they hope to move into the house of their dreams for less than the cost of an existing home, Bill Mitchell said he doesn't know if that will actually happen.

"There's always some uncertainty," he said. "But it's nice because you're part of the creative process."