Million dollar maybe

Like most others in his field, real estate executive David Hunihan knows the real estate market will eventually come back down.

When the decline will start — and how bad it will be -- no one knows. But that hasn't stopped the operations manager at Emerald Homes from making a major investment in a Hillsborough County community, with no guarantees a buyer will come along. The investment includes building three houses above the $1 million price range.

Getting houses out of the ground, even without advanced sales, could help Emerald solidify its growing market share. That's one of several reasons the company is high on spec building.