That’s the prediction of the California Building Industry Association’s chief economist. Alan Nevin anticipates that the number of housing starts for single-family homes, condos and apartments could rise slightly to 12,000 units this year, compared with 10,000 in 2006.

"The sales will be nowhere near as strong as they once were in 2004 and 2005 but from a normalcy standpoint Sacramento will be doing a fairly nice job in selling new homes this year as well as the resell market."

Nevin says that’s because the Sacramento area is still one of the most stable regions in the state. He says the economic stability relates to the employment base – 30% of which is government jobs.