ST. GEORGE — Towering red and white cliffs set a striking contrast against black lava fields for those rich enough to afford the view.

At The Reserve at Snow Canyon, finishing touches are made to a $6 million home that seamlessly rises from black rock. With its seven fireplaces, four outdoor fire pits, surrounding water features and guarded entrance, the home lies far beyond the financial reach of most people.

But with runaway price appreciation, even modest homes in Washington County are becoming expensive.

Many homeowners are wondering how long the party will last. According to some experts, it may be over already.

Home prices in St. George increased an average of 35.27 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005 compared to the same quarter in 2004 — giving the city a No. 4 ranking for appreciation among 275 U.S. cities, according to a report by the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

"People who have been here 25 years feel like they haven't had any appreciation since they've been here," said James Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, who completed a study on St. George growth for the Deseret Morning News. "Now all of a sudden they've got all this appreciation in the last couple of years."

But Andrew Leventis, an OFHEO economist, said rates in excess of 25 percent to 30 percent are unsustainable over the long term. To date, St. George has witnessed three consecutive quarters of house-price appreciation rates at 30 percent or more.

Allan Carter, director of developer services for Southern Utah Title Co., which tracks overall sales of property and homes throughout Washington County, said you don't have to look far to see that real estate price growth has slowed.

"As you go up in the price of a home, it is taking longer and longer to sell," Carter said. "For example, if you've got a home to sell at $1 million right now, it will take you 27 months to sell it. In November, it took nine months to sell that same home. We have a huge glut of overpriced homes on the market."

By the end of this year, Carter expects 6,000 more building lots to be recorded in Washington County, a 62 percent increase over the 3,710 lots that were platted in 2005.

"We will need 3,500 of them," Carter said. "Already we are seeing a deduction in pricing on lots of about 10 percent. There are selected areas where lots will fall 20 percent."

Home sales in Washington County saw a dramatic increase throughout 2004 and in the beginning of 2005. Yet from August through December, sales of dwellings dropped by 26 percent, according to Southern Utah Title. And sales of lots, which peaked in March 2005 at 360 transactions, fell to 226 in December.