Housing surges in Dixie

Mild winters, scenic landscapes and endless recreational opportunities are convincing thousands of people to build homes in southern Utah, giving Washington County a No. 7 ranking out of 3,100 counties nationally in the percent increase of new housing units.

According to a report Monday from the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington County had 48,777 housing units as of July 1, 2005, an 8.6 percent increase over 44,908 units a year earlier.

At the state level, Utah ranked as the fifth fastest growing state in the percentage increase in new homes, showing a 2.9 percent growth rate from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005. Nevada ranked No. 1 at 4.4 percent during the same 12-month period. Arizona was second at 3.5 percent, Florida was third at 3.1 percent and Idaho was fourth at 2.9 percent.

Since 2000, nearly 133,000 new residential units have been built in Utah, or about one out of every six homes in the state, according to a separate report released last year by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

According to James Wood, director of the U. bureau, Utah may be on target in 2006 to surpass last year's 28,300 new residential units.

The Census Bureau noted that the United States had an estimated 124.5 million housing units as of July 1, 2005, representing an increase of 1.8 million housing units, or 1.5 percent, from a year earlier.

At 14.8 percent, Flagler County, Fla., showed the highest rate of growth in the number of housing units of any county in the nation, the Census Bureau report said.

According to a report commissioned by the Deseret Morning News earlier this year, 50 percent of Washington County's private land is developed, leaving about 125,000 acres of private land undeveloped.

National attention has centered on the St. George area in recent months. At 38.40 percent, the St. George area ranked No. 1 in home price appreciation in the nation in this year's first quarter compared to the same quarter a year earlier, according to the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

In April, Inc. magazine's "2006 Hottest Cities for Business" list placed St. George as No. 2 among 393 U.S. cities for the best place to do business.

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E-mail: danderton@desnews.com