Many in the building industry said they were waiting for some upbeat news Wednesday as they gathered at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.

They were mostly disappointed. However, the group that gathered for the Builders Association of Northern Nevada’s mid-year construction analysis breakfast did leave with a broader understanding of building trends in Washoe County.

“I was hoping to learn what was going on in the area,” said Rolan Stone, account manager for White Cap construction supply.

According to Brian Bonnenfant, project manager at the University of Nevada, Reno Center for Regional Studies, the local building slump may not have hit bottom yet.

According to Bonnenfant, who has been collecting data at UNR for the past 16 years, 11 new homes sold in Washoe County in January.

“We will have to wait until January 2010 to see if that is the bottom,” he told the crowd.

Locally, Kiley Ranch Communities in Sparks is not building any new homes, according to Megan Kiley, community relations and marketing coordinator for the development.

“Nor are we currently selling land to home builders,” she added. “We sold land to Lennar and Pacific West home builders in 2006 and Lennar has not completed their project and I do not know what their current building plans are.”

According to center data, almost 33 percent of construction workers in Washoe County lost their jobs since July 2008, more than any other employment sector the center tracks.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada’s unemployment rate hit 12.9 percent in July.

Bonnenfant also reported that about 76 percent of existing homes on the market in Sparks were “distressed,” or good candidates for foreclosure. The North Valleys area held the highest number of distressed homes on the market at 80 percent.

Amid the news of doom and gloom, Bonnenfant suggested that the aging population and the California budget crisis could prove a bright spot for Nevada’s housing economy.

More than 78 million baby boomers are living across the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The oldest of these will reach the age of 65 in 2011. Census data also says that baby boomers are the wealthiest age group in America.

“Footloose baby boomers combined with the California crisis, low Nevada taxes, quality of life and home affordability may create a new influx,” Bonnenfant told the crowd.

He added that the influx of those needing new housing will need to be retirees because of Nevada’s high unemployment rate, meaning that people are not coming to the area to find work.

However, the barrier to this influx is the ability of California home owners to sell their properties and be better off moving to Nevada, Bonnenfant said.

The Reno/Sparks area ranked 105 out of 226 metropolitan areas in housing affordability. Regionally, Reno/Sparks placed 16, being beat out by places such as Stockton, Calif., Vallejo, Calif., Pheonix-Messa-Scotsdale, Ariz., and Las Vegas.