Utah’s hardest hit market showing gains.

New statewide figures from the Utah Association of Realtors show the St. George real estate market, hardest hit by the housing recession in Utah, has already started to recover.

The numbers show an uptick in home sales and signed contracts in September, the most recent figures available. Housing inventory in the area also fell, another indication that homes are selling.

And a new report from Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics predicts home prices in the St. George area will rise by 7.9 percent in the second quarter of 2012 over the same period in 2011. According to the same report, St. George will outperform the country: while U.S. prices are forecasted to fall 3.6 percent by next summer, St. George prices are expected to rise nearly 8 percent during the same period.

Lori Chapman, president of the Utah Association of Realtors (UAR), said 2011 sales through September are up, with 2,744 properties sold - an 11% increase from 2010.

Chapman said this is an ideal time to negotiate a mortgage since interest rates are hovering around 4 percent. “There are many great, great deals out there.”

Cindy Campbell, president of the Washington County Board of Realtors, said St. George remains attractive, especially to retirees and second-home buyers, because of its proximity to national parks, recreation opportunities and mild weather.

“St. George is affordable again,” said Campbell. “Our median-price homes are in line with incomes. In September alone, sales rose and our inventory decreased along with our notices of defaults and foreclosures.”

Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, said construction in Utah rose 3.9 percent, one of the highest gains in the country.  The St. George area is included in the upturn.

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