Douglas Earl, J.D.

There are definite green shoots in the St. George real estate market, where we have seen significant improvement in sales figures for April and May -- sales #'s haven't been seen since the must rosier summer of '07. There is continued positive data in the REO sector, which has been our team's focus and slightly worse trending in the re-sale markets though there sign of stabilization in terms of the # of listings and # of pendings. Re-sales homes in the area are sitting the market a little longer, and REO homes are selling quicker with very slight reductions in pricing. [Stats are based on MLS data for all single family homes and new construction (does not include lot sales, condos/ townhomes, mobile homes, etc) in the Greater St. George Utah area (cities of St. George, Washington, Ivins, and Santa Clara) for May 2009.

All sales(includes REO's, re-sales, short-sales, etc.)-- Total sold volume was 45.54 million; total units sold = 148; avg. list price surpassed $300k for the first time since Sept. '08 at $307,700 and avg. sold price was 94% of list price ($289,449); avg. DOM has steadily increased over the past few months (Dec. '08 = 111, March '09 = 134) and was 143 in May; avg. sold price p/ sq ft. = $119.22, down @$10 p/s/f from Dec.'08 (129.4).

REO sales-- Interestingly, in May, 1/3 of total sales were REO's, which has increased slightly from March (was 29%). Avg. list price for REO's which closed during May was $287,950, down @ 11% from March's avg. list price of $322,973; Avg. sold price as % of list price was 96% ($289,450) which was up from March's figure of 90% ($262,97); Avg. DOM dropped significantly from 99 in March to 88.

Buyer competition for REO's in April and May intensified significantly. During this period, several of our bank-owned listings received multiple offers, which often resulted in sales prices that exceeded the bank's asking price. Our team's sub $350k REO inventory has been all but depleted and we anticipate continued buying opportunities based on the # of homes that will be sold at trustee's sales over the next 30-60 days.

Here are the sale statistics for Greater St. George Utah area for December 2008 - for the most part, not a great change from November 2008 sales figures. The stats are based on MLS data for all single family homes and new construction (does not include lot sales, condos/ townhomes, mobile homes, etc).

Total # of Sales = 87; of those 87 homes, the avg. list price = $285,062; avg. sold price was 94% of list price; avg. DOM = 111; avg. per sq ft. (list) = 129.4

Total # of sales (non-REO or short sales) = 62; avg. list price = 291,515; avg sold price was 94% of list price; avg. DOM =121; avg. per sq ft. (list) = 137

Total # of sales (REO / bank-owned) = 25; avg. listing price = 269,058 (avg. sold price was 93% of list price; avg. DOM = 86; avg. per sq. ft. list = 110.48

Interestingly, within the 87 sales, there were 14 short-sales that closed that ranged from $399,900 -$250k.

Just pulled up stats for November 2008 for St. George Utah area (all 4 cities in the Greater St. George area -- Washington, Ivins, St. George and Santa Clara) for single family homes & new construction....

83 homes sold (32.5% of which (27 homes) were bank-owned / REO homes) / avg. DOM = 131 / avg. p/s/f sold price = $129.99 / avg. sold price = $267,673 / sold price as % of list price = 91%.

Here are the figures for those 27 bank-owned homes that sold in Nov. 08: avg. DOM = 76 / avg. p/s/f sold price = $108.98 / avg. sold price = $283,991 / sold price as % of list price = 95%.

There are 110 active bank-owned homes on the market today: there are 33 bank-owned homes that are under contract / in escrow....which is right in line with Nov. 08 stats where 32.5% of the solds described above were bank-owned.