New statewide figures from the Utah Association of Realtors show signs of a St. George Utah real estate market recovery. Yes, the real estate market in St. George, hardest hit by the housing recession in Utah, may be starting to recover.
The numbers show an uptick in home sales and signed contracts in September, the most recent figures available. Housing inventory in the area also fell, another indication that homes are selling.
And a new report from Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics predicts home prices in the St. George area will rise by 7.9 percent in the second quarter of 2012 over the same period in 2011. According to the same report, St. George will outperform the country: While U.S. prices are forecasted to fall 3.6 percent by next summer, St. George prices are expected to rise nearly 8 percent during the same period.
The report, based in part on data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, shows home prices in Washington County, which includes St. George, peaked in the fourth quarter of 2006 and then fell about 41 percent through the second quarter of 2011. The current median price of a home in St. George is about $150,000.
Celia Chen, a senior director at Moody’s Analytics, said the agency looks at data from a wide variety of sources, including Fiserv, the National Association of Realtors and RealtyTrac. Fiserv counts deed documents filed with counties when houses are sold.
Rated in the top 10 for recovery and now this! We are looking at home values going up in 2012 and St. George is about to lead the nation in recovery…awesome news for those that have purchased low, in the next several months prices will be on the rise. St. George Real Estate is coming back stronger that ever!
David Stiff, chief economist for Fiserv, a financial technology and services company that compiles figures for clients on more than 380 housing markets in the country, said St. George was hit hardest in Utah by the housing collapse, with Provo coming in second. St. George was a bubble that grew as investors drove up housing prices in the previous decade. The bubble finally burst in 2008, but prices are expected to stabilize and rise next year.
“There is a large correction going on that will attract investors who want to jump in at lower prices,” Stiff said.