It seems to be the case, at least for non-profit Habitat for Humanity, that rising land prices in the Saint George area have pretty much stopped new Habitat homes from being built. Check out this article from KSL.

It’s hard for me to believe that there is no available land anywhere around Saint George for less than $150,000 a lot, but if that is the case then it’s pretty remarkable that demand down there is so high. Perhaps there is room for a big developer to purchase land a bit further away from the hot spots and build some less expensive housing. It certainly sounds like it.

It will be interesting to see if Washington County median home prices topple approved FHA maximum loan limits, effectively nullifying FHA availability down there. That would be a major blow to the lower-middle class around Saint George as far as home ownership goes - especially for first time home buyers. FHA is not really an option (unless limits have been drastically increased lately) in the higher priced areas like California, Arizona, and Las Vegas. Hopefully St George doesn’t join that group.

Elsewhere in Utah the mortgage situation seems to be unaffected by the drastic increase in home values over the last year or so. FHA already increased it’s limits to around $225,000 along most of the Wasatch Front. So for the most part, getting a mortgage loan in Utah shouldn’t be too difficult for most people.

Although it’s only the 2nd, I wanted to post a quick holiday greeting because who knows if I’ll be around again this week.  So… have a great Independence Day to all my neighbors in Utah, everyone in the U.S., and to all the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan!