Market Updates

November 05, 2026

Quiet residential street in St. George, Utah at sunset with red rock cliffs behind desert-style homes.

Hey St. George! Two big national reports landed this week, and they say the same thing. October was a slow month for home sales.

Buyers pulled back. Many sellers did too. Here's what the numbers show, what we're seeing here at home, and how to use a quieter market to your advantage.

What the National Data Shows

Zillow released its October Market Report on Nov. 5, 2026. The headlines:

Newly pending listings fell 16.8% from last October. That's the biggest yearly drop since August 2023, and the slowest October since 2018.
The typical mortgage payment was about $2,004, assuming 20% down and not counting taxes and insurance. That's up 12.8% from a year ago.
Home values barely moved. The typical U.S. home value is $364,812, up just 0.7% from last year.

Zillow says that higher payment is almost all about rates. Freddie Mac's 30-year rate averaged 7.33% in October, up from 6.86% in September.

Realtor.com's October 2026 housing report, released Nov. 4, tells a similar story:

Contract signings were down 17.0% from a year ago.
New listings fell 7.5%, the steepest drop since September 2023.
Active listings were up 7.4%, to about 1.18 million homes.
About 20.5% of listings had a price cut, only 0.2 points more than last year.

Their take: sellers are pausing, not panicking.

What We're Seeing in Washington County

The latest local numbers come from the Utah Association of REALTORS® September 2026 report for Washington County. October numbers aren't out yet. But September already showed the same shift:

Pending sales: 302, down 12.7% from 346 a year earlier.
Inventory: 2,355 homes for sale, up 12.8%. That's a 6.0-month supply.
Sellers received 95.9% of their original list price, up from 95.0%.
Median sales price: $499,495, down 3.6% from a year earlier.

So buyers here have more to choose from and more room to negotiate. For sellers, pricing it right matters more than ever.

If You're Buying

A slow month can be a good month for you. Fewer buyers means less competition and more time to decide.

Zillow's chief economist, Mischa Fisher, said there are "deals to be had for buyers able to brave the affordability headwinds in the coming months." We agree, with one caution. Run your numbers at today's rates, not the rate you hope to get later.

Our suggestion would be to:

Get pre-approved so you know your real payment.
Ask about seller-paid closing costs or a rate buydown, not just price.
Look at homes that have been sitting a while. That's where the room usually is.

If You're Selling

New listings are down. That means less competition for your home right now.

But buyers are watching every dollar. Price it right from day one, make it easy to show, and be open to helping with closing costs. Homes that hit the market priced too high tend to sit, and that's tough in a slow season.