Never before has there been a period of homebuilding in Washington County like the past three years.

With the area experiencing wild real estate speculation, the arrival of retiring baby boomers and soaring population growth, the Deseret Morning News commissioned James Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, to take a closer look at Washington County growth.

Wood examined everything from land ownership and population projections to real estate sales and the second-home market, using data compiled by his own staff, federal agencies, the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, title companies, the Washington County Board of Realtors and on-site interviews.

What his study found were housing and lot values at their highest levels ever, with construction employment in Washington County more than double the statewide average.

"Speculators who have made money in the Las Vegas market have been taking some of their winnings off the Vegas table, where prices have skyrocketed," Wood said, "and placing bets on the Washington County market."

But along with dreams of making it big in real estate or retiring to a little piece of paradise have come the problems of how to house and provide services for the residents of the county — both old and new.

Wood's examination of these issues forms the basis of "Utah's Dixie: Dreams and Dilemmas."