Knowlton said her customers are suffering in today's market, and there's very little she can do to help many of them.

"Before, I could qualify nine out of 10 applicants. Now, I can qualify one out of 10," she said. "You have to have a big down payment and really good credit to qualify for a loan now."

Knowlton said she tried to help Jaime and Tishanne Stout refinance a beautiful home they had built in Washington city but found it was an impossible task.

"Their home isn't worth as much as they owe on it now," she said, adding the house appraised for more than $370,000 a year ago and now can't be listed anywhere near that price. The house sits on a quiet hillside street with other high-end homes, overlooking the green farmland that still exists in Washington city.

"It's my dream home," said Tishanne Stout. "We built another house, and I guess we should have stayed in that one instead of selling it and building this one."

The Stouts are like many other couples who work in the construction trade here, building a home and selling it to cash in a nice profit before building another house that is even bigger and better than the last one.

There are a lot of houses like the Stouts' home with a "For Sale" sign planted out front, but there are even more listed with no one living in them. Only six of the homes in the Stouts' neighborhood are occupied, which can lead to a sort of eerie feeling for those who do live there. Entire subdivisions throughout the county are dotted with signs that beckon buyers, but there are few takers.

Stricter lending standards

Because St. George is now deemed a "declining" real estate market, Radian Group requires a larger down payment for homebuyers there who are seeking mortgage insurance. Radian Group is the parent company of Radian Guarantee, which provides mortgage insurance for lenders nationwide.

Scott Theobold, chief risk officer for Radian, said that in the past, his firm's eligibility standards required borrowers with the best creditworthiness to have a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 97 percent, meaning they would have to put 3 percent down. But since the St. George area is now considered a declining market, Radian now requires a 5 percent down payment before it will provide insurance.

Those changes, said Theobold, are considered permanent, "at least until conditions are such that they compel that we should rethink them."

The area's mortgage difficulties have placed mortgage-insurance companies in a difficult financial position, said Wells Fargo economist Kelly Mathews.