Saint George, UT

I moved to St. George Utah in 1997 and I absolutely love living in Southern Utah. My husband has had several opportunities to relocate and I just won't hear of it. I've dug my heels in and I'm not moving! I love the climate, no smog, 4 National Parks within a days drive, low crime rate, great healthcare and friendly people that live here in St. George. Did I mention it only takes me 5 minutes to drive home, even in "rush hour" traffic?

Let me tell you a little about St. George. It sits in the middle of the greatest outdoor recreation area in the United States. Drive two hours in any direction from St. George and you will find such attractions as: The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks, Lake Mead, Lake Powell and over 40 more national and state parks, recreation areas, monuments, and points of interest. Tuacahn Ampitheatre is a wonderful place to partake of some fabulous theatrical productions with Broadway quality actors. World-Class skiing, snowboarding, golf, hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, and sightseeing await within minutes.

St. George is located within the northern extension of the Mojave Desert. The desert climate leads to generally clear skies, relatively mild winters and hot summers. We enjoy over 300 days of sunshine per year! The temperature varies from a low in January of 27.1 degrees to 102 degrees in July. St. George is 2,880 feet above sea level and the peaks of Pine Valley Mountain reach over 10,000 feet.

This market is a difficult trial to those closely associated with it, i.e. Builders, Lenders, Appraisers, Title Co's and Realtors. IMO, professionals in each of those groups would be wise to exercise CAUTIOUS optimism, and find the exceptional opportunities that exist in times of irrational panic. I am personally buying properties, and will continue buying. I expect, and intend to look back in the next few years and be grateful for the opportunities that existed in the "doom and gloom" of 2008. I believe that intelligent buying now, will be rewarded. My advice, find the opportunities that exist in YOUR market, and take the lead. The public will regain confidence gradually, as they see industry professionals who recognize opportunity. Ray Cox ERA Brokers Consolidated raycoxrealestate@hotmail.com 435-467-7653

Bloomington Hills is a neighborhood within St. George Utah. It is located to the east (and slightly north) of Bloomington (which are at the southern end of St George). In the early 80's, Bloomington was considered "the place to be" by residents. Bloomington Hills was considered more of an affordable second choice option. Now, Bloomington Hills is a beautiful, equally desired neighborhood.

Bloomington Hills is built around the city golf course, St George Golf Club, which the city took over in 1983. This course features a par 73, 18 hole course and is approximately 7,200 yards. The par 3's are said to be the most difficult in Washington County, with at least 190 yards on average. Like neighboring Bloomington, homes can be purchased (and a few lots remain) directly on the course, or you can purchase away from the golf course. Bloomington Hills has many neighborhood amenities such as parks and trails.

There's an area near the golf course which offers Condo or Townhome style living. Most lot sizes in Bloominton Hills are approximately a quarter acre. Since Bloomington Hills is literally built up on a hill, many residents can enjoy a spectacular view of the golf course, entire valley, and nearby red mountains which Southern Utah is famous for. It's ironic that Bloomington Hills came as a "second choice" to Bloomington, when you have the privilege to see such an incredible view from your property – it seems to me that this would invite more popularity. I suppose the residents who "settled" for the more "affordable" option don't have much to regret.

Trails are existing and new trail plans are currently underway for Bloomington Hills. It's a great place to live if you are an outdoor enthusiast. There is a wonderful pond off the golf course filled with ducks, swans and other wildlife for visitors to enjoy a peaceful resting spot. Neighbors are outgoing and friendly, but you can find this throughout the entire St George area, which is part of the charm. The "small town" feel packed with big city amenities is what Bloomington Hills and St George have to offer.

Overall, this neighborhood is a desirable place to call home. New schools have opened in the area and students can enjoy the close proximity to the school as well as enjoying the new construction and modern amenities it brings. Affordable homes or luxury living are available in this community. If you are interested in locating a home in this community, visit my Property Search page. Should you be interested in selling your Bloomington Hills property, give me a call and allow me to present a current market analysis on your home.

While this post was written with Washington County / St. George, Utah Real Estate in mind, I think the general concepts are true for 90% of the country. I work on a regular basis with a large volume of "expired listings." 25% of the Larkin Group's total sales volume is directly with this group. These people have been on the market a LONG time and they're NOT happy about it.

However, can I share with you the absolute #1 thing I hear from that group, bar-none? "We are just going to wait for the market to come back...and besides nothing is selling anyway!"

Why do they think the market will magically bounce back say, next year? Two reasons:1. Because it would financially benefit them if there were a quick recovery and... 2. because the market has never done this in Washington County before, therefore most people are in denial about the reality of the situation.

But I digress.....Many Sellers are frustrated with the disparity between what they thought their home was going to be worth and what is actually is. They are concerned about a "paper" loss, if that makes sense. They want to ‘wait it out', yet they may be waiting a LONG time. Am I saying that it is a bad time to buy? Well not necessarily at all. I'm just pointing out that statistically, Sellers may be looking for a pot of gold in terms of a short turn-around to real estate values. Allow me to statistically prove my point.

If you look back over the past 10-20 years, US home appreciation has never been above around 6% on a year over year average.

Along comes the recent housing boom and we start seeing 30%, 50% or even higher appreciation! As a matter of fact, it was 73% in Washington County over the past 5 years to be exact. The problem is that at the same time, wages were NOT increasing at those rates, and many buyers were getting into loans they could not eventually afford.

Fast forward to 2007/2008. Those same buyers now have their loans "resetting" to much higher interest rates, the respective profession they work in is suffering due to the housing market so their personal income is down, and the their home is now worse significantly less than what they paid for it.

Add that to the fact that many of the very buyers they need can't purchase their home because they are waiting to sell their own homes, or can't qualify for a loan in the current mortgage climate.

So as Sellers consider their options and look forward to a future market recovery, they should consider the following:

1. Home values will have to stop falling before they can rise.
2. When they do stop falling they most likely will remain static for a period of time....could be months, could be years!
3. Then they will start creeping back up at a conservative pace, say 3-6% annually.

That all summarized, you can clearly see that hoping for your home to be worth more, or even as much as today in the next 12 months is wishful thinking at best.

Prognosis:

At the end of the day Sellers may do as they see fit. But my advice to those who want to "wait" for a shorter-term, miraculous turn-around to a currently frigid real estate climate would be this: pack your long-johns, it's gonna be a cold winter.

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