Anthony McKendall longs for the days when the Inland Empire had a solid housing market.

The owner of A. McKendall Construction in Hemet used to make $350,000 to $450,000 a year remodeling houses.

But McKendall's business has slipped along with the local housing market: He estimates that he will gross about $100,000 this year, and he hasn't worked on a major project in about five months.

"We've been doing mostly small stuff," he said.

"When the market was good, I think people remodeled in order to keep up with the Joneses, but when the market started to tank, they didn't do that anymore," McKendall said. "I don't have any doubt that we will come out of this. We just have to keep doing what we're supposed to do."

Home remodelers typically struggle during lean housing markets, said Everett Collier, former president and board chairman of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry in Des Plaines, Ill.