"Civil Protest"

From the San Jose Mercury News:

One-third of the houses in Paseo West will go on the auction block Saturday - houses that are sitting eerily empty in tidy rows along newly paved streets, houses that wouldn't sell even though Anderson Homes cut prices by $100,000 and offered free granite countertops and big screen TVs with surround sound.
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Saturday's auction in a Hilton Hotel ballroom in Pleasanton is the latest sign that the subprime lending crisis is hitting hard. Banks are tightening loan requirements on some of the Central Valley's best customers - first-time home buyers who need easy credit with little money down. Builders like Anderson Homes, who have catered to these buyers with homes in the $500,000 to $600,000 range, are stuck with a glut.
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Since the auction advertising blitz of Paseo West was launched three weeks ago, foot traffic at the sales office has tripled - infuriating homeowners who see potential bidders as the enemy. In his own attempt at civil protest, homeowner Randy Brown tried to scare off investors one day by raising his garage door, pulling out his jacked-up truck painted with green flames, cranking his music and revving up his motorcycle. "I bought my house on August 16," Brown said. "If one of these houses goes for the minimum bid, I will have lost $155,000 in six weeks."

From the Sacramento Business Journal:

Sacramento's Development Services Department is facing an unexpected shortfall of $3 million to $4 million stemming from the slowdown in new-home construction, as the city joins the ranks of other municipalities that have been forced to adjust financially. As a result, the city has delayed hiring 36 workers intended to further streamline its development-approval process, which in the past has been a sore point with developers. Officials say they won't cut staff or reduce effectiveness of programs to bridge the budget gap.
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[R]esidential construction, which encompasses new homes, remodels and repairs, began falling steadily from a high of $569 million in 2003 to $329 million in 2006. Fewer than 900 new homes are projected to be built in Sacramento during the current fiscal year, compared to more than 3,000 during the peak building years of 2003 and 2004.