About Uintah County, UT

I have been selling real estate in vernal for about 7 months. This weekend I went rock hunting for petrified wood outside Vernal. I was thrilled to find several nice piece. This area used to be tropical about 50 million years ago so it is possible to find petrified coral, palm tree wood, and even sea turtle shells. The area of Vernal is known for the amazing fossilized dinosaurs bones found there as early as 1909. My next venture might be hunting for garnets or plant fossils in the area!

Housing Market Vernal Utah

Vernal Utah Current Real Estate Market

As a need-driven (rather than investment-driven) market, the Vernal, Utah area Real Estate Market is currently much different from the rest of the United States.

Since 2005, the Vernal area has steadily increased in number of sales and price of real estate properties. This has led many developers to look for land to buy and entitle for subdivisions, which they intend to either build out or resale.

Many builders built homes in the $250,000 and up price range. This created a rise in inventory of homes for sale, since many of our buyers are looking for more affordable housing. However, in the last month the inventory has started to move downward toward a more reasonable amount for our market


Vernal is in the heart of an area with an abundance of "in demand" energy resources - oil, natural gas and oil shale. Major companies are continuing to expand their production and number of employees here. A surge over the last few years has led to rising rent prices, which have benefitted many property owners. In fact, the scarcity of rentals has forced many companies to house employees in motels until more rental spaces become av ailable.

Another factor benefiting the Uintah Basin is the new Utah State University campus. Affordable housing for students and professors will soon be needed. The new campus has also given community leaders the incentive to make plans for road improvements and other community facilities on and near the campus. This will stabilize the housing market with future growth.

Vernal really is a great place to live, build, buy and invest. I am looking forward to statistics on sales for the current month and quarter as they will continue to be encouraging. Keep checking in!