Sacramento Housing Market Slow to Catch up with U.s.

FAST TO TAKE THE CURVE ON THE HIGHWAY AND THAT SENT THE CURVE PLUNGING INTO THE WATER. AROUND SACRAMENTO, DEVELOPERS ARE BUILDING BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT DIGGING AND HAMMERING IS NOT ENOUGH TO BUILD A ROSY ECONOMIC PICTURE. WE ARE JOINED LIVE IN WEST SACRAMENTO. ON THAT BUILDING, CERTAINLY CHANGING LANDSCAPES ACROSS OUR REGION. DEVELOPERS CAN JUST BARELY KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND FOR HOMES. PART OF THAT DEMAND IS FOR RENTALS AND ONE EXPERT WE TALKED TO SAYS THAT AS A SIGN OF THE TIMES. AMAZING CORNER. THIS APARTMENT IN WEST SACRAMENTO SHOULD BE READY TO LIVE IN BY APRIL. MOLLY NELSON SAYS THEY HAVE TO COMPETE FOR IT. THE RENTAL MARKET IS EXTREMELY STRONG. THESE UNITS WITH ONE-OF-A-KIND VIEWS OF THE TOWER BRIDGE IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO ARE RENTALS. TYPICALLY WE SEE THE YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHIC LOOKING TO RENT, THEY ARE JUST GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE, OFTEN THEY HAVE ACCEPTED JOBS IN THE AREA. RENTERS WILL HAVE LESS UPKEEP TO WORRY ABOUT THAN BUYERS. BUT, AN ECONOMIST WITH THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOMEBUILDERS SAYS THE CHOICE TO RENT RATHER THAN BUY IS MORE TIED TO THE ECONOMY THAN YOU MIGHT THINK, ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. INCOMES HAVE INCREASED AS FAST AS PREVIOUS GENERATIONS WOULD HAVE AT THIS POINT. THE CREDIT ISN'T QUITE AS GOOD AND THE CREDIT UNDERWRITING CONDITIONS ARE REALLY TIGHT. THE PRICES ARE SO HIGH. THEY LOWER THE PRICES AND MAYBE YOUNGER PEOPLE WOULD BUY. DEVELOPERS ARE INVESTING MORE IN RENTAL PROPERTY. FOR THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD IT, THERE ARE FOR-SALE DEVELOPMENTS. SACRAMENTO'S OVERALL HOUSING RECOVERY HAS A LONG WAY TO GO. THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE THAT IS THAT THE U.S. AS A WHOLE IS ABOUT HALFWAY BACK TO NORMAL FOR SINGLE-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT. SACRAMENTO, ONLY ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE WAY BACK. AND THAT, NOT SURPRISINGLY IS BECAUSE CALIFORNIA WAS HIT SO MUCH HARDER BY THE HOUSING CRASH THAN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WAS. THEY WERE SPEAKING AT A REGIONAL HOUSING FORECAST. HE DID TELL US HIS FORECAST IS A LOT ROSIER, A LOT MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN IT WAS TWO YEARS AGO.