Placer Popluation Growth At Lowest Level Since 1971

From the Sacramento Bee:

A few years ago, Placer and El Dorado counties were red hot, flush with Bay Area transplants and drawing more residents each year at a tremendous rate. Now that trend is cooling. Both counties grew at a slower pace in the past fiscal year than during any of the previous 35 years, according to population estimates released Wednesday by the California Department of Finance... Placer County hasn't seen a lower rate of population growth since 1971, according to state figures. And El Dorado's hasn't been this low since 1968.
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The driver for the change appeared to be a statewide drop in domestic migration – movement from one part of the country to another. Instead, all of California's growth this year came from natural increase – more births than deaths – and immigration from other countries.
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Changes in the housing market help explain the domestic migration trend, several experts said. With housing prices down everywhere, Bay Area bargain hunters may not have the equity to move or may be able to afford something closer to home.
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Then there are the foreclosures. California residents who have lost their homes, [California's chief economist, Howard] Roth said, are opting to move out of state. In all, about 90,000 more people left California than came here from another state this year, and Roth said that trend may be cause for concern. When more residents leave than arrive, he said, it "often relates to what people think of California. Our economy is slowing down. We had a pretty big housing bubble that burst."

From the Sacramento Bee:

Rising construction costs and rapid growth have prompted Roseville elected officials to increase two developer fees and establish a new one, despite the sluggish housing market....City Manager W. Craig Robinson said cost pressures are affecting the city's ability to build promised facilities, many of which are needed to serve new development.
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Building industry representatives, however, say the fee increases come at a bad time. "During this downturn, and probably for the foreseeable 18 months ahead of us, we think the market will continue to decline," said K. Hovnanian Homes' Frances Knight. "We suspect that the projections on building permits are going to be worse than estimated currently."
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Wendy Gerig, Roseville Chamber of Commerce's chief executive officer, asked the council to delay the fee increases until the economy picks up. This year, a record number of businesses dropped their chamber membership because they folded or had financial constraints, Gerig told the council.

From the Sacramento Bee:

A recent Rancho Cordova forum, organized by Councilman Ken Cooley, drew about 80 people to City Hall to hear presentations by nonprofit organizations on options for those who miss mortgage payments and state and federal officials on what options they have to stave off foreclosure.
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Past advice has gone out the window since the subprime collapse,...[Mike Himes, homeownership services director at NeighborWorks, a national nonprofit] said. Two years ago, the idea was to get into a house as fast as possible and eventually refinance the loan, he said. "Did anyone know two years ago there'd be a crash in the market?" Himes asked.

From the Stockton Record:

Stockton remained on top, with one foreclosure filing for every 99 households - more than six times the national average. Modesto had the No. 2 spot, with one foreclosure filing for every 104 households, and Merced took the No. 3 spot, with one foreclosure filing for every 106 households.
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Steve Carrigan, Stockton's economic development director, said he doesn't see a downswing in foreclosures coming any time soon to the Stockton area. "It's bad, and it's going to get worse," he said. "We're going to have to weather this."

Weston Ranch Realty owner and broker Steve Clark said he hasn't seen any signs that the foreclosure scene is improving. A lot of people still come into his office hoping to list their houses in hopes of selling to avoid foreclosure, he said. Typically, though, they owe at least $100,000 more on the house than they could get for it, he said. "We can't list it," he said he tells them. "Nobody will buy your home and help you out of this mess."

There have been hardly any sales all this year, anyway, he said, adding that his office mainly handles property management for rental homes - an active scene. "I don't see a change any time soon," Clark said. "It's terrible, and I have a hard time seeing where the silver lining is."