St. George housing market
Third Quarter 2026

July through September added up to the slowest three months of 2026 for St. George closings. Three hundred and sixty-two single-family homes closed in the summer quarter, eight fewer than in the first quarter and well short of the spring. A year ago it went the other way, and summer out-closed winter. This summer finished twenty-seven closings behind last summer.

Less activity did not mean worse terms for the homes that did sell. Sellers collected about ninety-nine percent of list, one point above last summer, and homes reached contract in about the same time as a year ago. The median finished about four percent under last summer. The way I read the quarter, both sides of the table got smaller at about the same time. Fewer owners put homes on the market and fewer buyers wrote contracts, and the ones who met in the middle did business on normal terms.

New listings fell about nine percent against last summer, and new contracts written in the quarter fell thirteen percent. Those two lines moved together, which is why the supply side barely changed. The count of listings active during the quarter came in about two percent under a year ago, at a little over a thousand homes. Closings followed the contracts down by about six percent. Days on market for the homes that sold, and the full trip from listing to closing day, each landed within a day of last summer.

Price is where the quarter lost ground. The median slipped about four percent and the average about seven, and with fewer closings on top of a lower average, dollar volume came in about fourteen percent under last summer. A bigger drop in the average than in the median means the higher-priced homes are doing less of the closing, and that has now been true for two quarters in a row.

In the second-quarter report I said the summer would show whether that missing high end came back. It mostly did not. The gap between this year's median and last year's narrowed a little, but the average sat about seven percent behind in both quarters. That is a steady pattern, and steady patterns deserve more weight than one good or bad month.

A buyer in St. George this summer was shopping a shelf about the same size as last summer's, but a fresher one. Listings still on the market had been waiting about three months on average, against roughly four a year ago. Last year more homes lingered. This year the stale ones either sold or came off the market, and what remained was newer stock.

Fewer contracts did give buyers more breathing room. With thirteen percent fewer contracts written, a buyer was less likely to be bidding against someone else on the same house, and the higher price bands, where closings thinned the most, are where that room was widest. Larger homes in master-planned areas like Divario compete with builder inventory, and single-level homes in Sun River run on their own rhythm, so judge each on its own recent sales.

If a bigger home is on your list for the fall, my moving up in St. George guide lays out the timing of the purchase against the sale of the home you are in now.

The quarterly charts above show the shape of the year better than any single month can. Last year the St. George median climbed about thirty thousand dollars from winter into spring, then gave some of it back in the summer. This year the spring climb never came. The median rose only a couple thousand dollars from the first quarter to the second, then eased in the summer quarter to the lowest quarterly figure of the year so far.

Set against last year, the pattern is easy to state. The first quarter matched last year's median within a few thousand dollars. The second and third quarters each came in a few percent under. Closings tell a similar story from another angle: nine more than last year in the first quarter, about even in the second, and twenty-seven fewer in the third. Nothing in that falls off a cliff. It is a market that started 2026 at last year's level and has drifted a little lower as the year went on, mostly because the higher-priced homes have done less of the closing.

Summer itself is the slow season here. The July heat thins out showings, August settles the contracts written early in the summer, and September opens the door to the fall season. This summer followed that script with a smaller cast.

Going into the last quarter of the year, the leading lines point to a lighter fall than last year's. New contracts fell further than closings did this summer, and new listings were down too. Fewer contracts written late in the summer means fewer closings early in the fall, and fewer new listings means less fresh supply coming behind them. Unless the fall shoppers buy faster than usual, I expect closings to stay a bit behind last year through the holidays.

Price is the open question. If the higher-end homes come back with the seasonal buyers, the year could finish close to last year's median. If they stay quiet, 2026 likely ends a few percent under 2025 on price with steady terms for sellers, which is a soft year rather than a falling one. Either way, the citywide line will not price your home. If the move you are planning is to something smaller, the right-size and pocket cash calculator shows how much of your equity could stay with you after the move.

Three months of closings make a steadier read than one month, and that is exactly why a quarterly number is useful for judging the market and close to useless for pricing a single house. The summer median for St. George blends red rock view homes, older ranches near the center of town, newer townhomes in the south end, and everything between. Your price comes from the closings that look like your home: same area, similar size and age, similar lot and view, sold in the last few months. That is the work a home valuation does, and the quick first look is my what is my home worth in St. George page.

A quarter also gives you something a single month cannot, which is a sense of direction. Prices in St. George drifted a little lower through 2026 while sellers kept getting close to full asking price. That combination rewards a seller who prices to the latest comps on day one, and it punishes a list price built on last year's numbers, because buyers have those same comps and a shelf of other options. If you are unsure whether to list this fall or hold, the sell now or wait calculator puts the carrying cost of waiting next to the likely change in value.

A citywide quarter hides a lot of local movement. In St. George the areas with view lots, like The Ledges and Stone Cliff, trade on a small number of high-dollar sales, so when the top of the market goes quiet, those areas tend to feel it first. Master-planned areas with active builders, like Desert Color and Little Valley, compete with new inventory and builder incentives every month of the year. Older established areas such as Bloomington run mostly on resale, and their pace depends on how many owners decide to list.

That is why I never price a St. George home off the city line, quarterly or monthly. The neighborhood sets the comp set, the comp set sets the price, and the city median only tells you which way the wind is blowing. My St. George neighborhoods guide covers each area, the kind of homes it has, and how it tends to price.

If you are selling a St. George home, you are almost certainly buying or renting something after it, and the two halves work best on one plan. This year's numbers help with that plan. Prices have been steady to a little softer, terms for sellers have held, and homes have been reaching contract on a normal schedule. Those are good conditions to sequence a move without guessing. My sell your St. George home page shows my process for a St. George listing, from the first price to the closing table.

If the next home is smaller or simpler, my right-sizing in St. George page covers the equity and tax questions that come with it, and the capital gains estimator gives you a rough read before you talk with your tax professional. If the next home is new, my new construction in St. George guide lists the active builder communities and what they are offering against resale. Either way, start with the sale price you can count on, because every other number in the move depends on it.