1. Special Presentation for the Washington County Board of REALTORS ® Chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS ® Thursday, June 12, 2008

6. Forbes’ List of America’s Fastest- Growing Metropolitan Areas It’s no secret that the Southeast and Western United States are booming. The costs of living and doing business there are often cheaper there than in big coastal cities. But where and how much those cities are thriving might surprise you. Metro areas like Port St. Lucie and Palm Bay, are part of a growing biotech cluster in Central Florida. Straddling Texas and Arkansas, Texarkana is seeing war-related development: Its Red River Army Depot is a major maintenance and storage facility for military equipment. And St.George, Utah, located about 120 miles from Las Vegas, has boomed in recent years as a destination for retirees. All of these cities sit at or near the top of Forbes’ list of America’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas, places large and small that offer at least a promise of booming economies for years to come. Forbes.com 1/30/2008

8. Dixie Growth Surges 48% Washington County’s popularity as a favorite home base continues to climb, according to population estimates released in March 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The county’s population grew by an astounding 48 percent from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2007, to nearly 134,000 residents, according to the Census Bureau’s report. But even more people have moved into the county since last July. “We’re showing almost 141,000 people live in Washington County,” said Lecia Parks Langston, regional economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Even while the growth has continued upward, she said it is somewhat slower than in years past. “We’re not the fastest-growing county in Utah anymore, but that’s probably a good thing,” she said. “We need that time to catch up.” Utah’s Dixie also is ranked No. 17 on the Census Bureau’s Top 100 list of the nation’s fastest-growing counties with a population of 10,000 or more. Washington County’s position on the list has steadily risen over the years, moving up from an initial ranking of No. 46 out of 100 in 2003 Deseret Morning News 3/20/2008

9. St.George Metro Area Growth Ranks 2 nd in U.S. St.George’s growth continues to be driven by migration, more so than the state’s other metro areas. St.George saw an influx of 4,700 people in one year, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the county’s growth. That’s more than double that of the Salt Lake Area, where only 31 percent of the growth was due to people moving in. Still, the estimated 5.1 percent growth St.George saw from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, is a slowdown. In the previous year the metro area saw a 6 percent rise in population and was the nation’s fastest growing. In general, the estimates indicate Utah’s metro areas weren’t as hard hit as areas such as Las Vegas and Phoenix. In fact, St.George was one of only four metro areas in the top-10 growth that had also been listed in the prior year. Utah remains relatively attractive to those moving from states such as California, from which Utah has seen much of its influx. Deseret News – March 2008

10. America’s Fastest-Growing Metros St. George, Utah Rank: 7 Projected total GMP growth 2007-2012: 23.82% (Gross Metropolitan Product) Construction has been the driving force behind the growth in St.George, about 120 miles from Las Vegas. A St.George Chamber of Commerce official says the housing slowdown will undoubtedly affect growth in the area. But St.George is also increasingly becoming a low- cost manufacturing area to service Southern California and other parts of Utah. A new airport to be completed within the next four years should also keep locally headquartered SkyWest Airlines happy/ Forbes.com 1/30/2008

11. POLICOM 2008 Economic Strength Rankings “Economic strength is the long term tendency for an area to consistently grow in both size and quality. POLICOM specializes in studying the dynamics of local economies. From its research, it determines if an area is growing or declining, what is causing this to happen, and offers ideas and solutions to communities to improve the situation. It calculates growth rates, consistency trends, industry averages, and other factors for each area. More than one hundred economic elements are measured for multiple time periods. POLICOM addresses the condition of an economy from the viewpoint of it’s impact upon the “standard of living” of the people who live and work in an area. When the “smoke clears,” each area is ranked for more than 1,000 sectors or time periods. (There are now 363 metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States. Among the 3,142 counties in the U.S., 1,092 are included in the 363 areas. Approximately 82% of the nation’s population reside in the METROS.) POLICOM Corporation – June 2008

12. POLICOM 2008 Rankings 20082007200620052004 St.George 143 162 142 112 123 Salt Lake City 9 28 18 6 17 Las Vegas, NV 10 3 10 23 46 Ogden-Clearfield 113 134 117 103 87 Provo-Orem 193 181 146 116 111 Cedar City * 363 422 444 357 336 Brigham City * 203 280 327 311 393 Heber City * 231 301 277 198 143 Vernal * 371 503 543 531 533 Price * 412 441 485 516 525 * (577 Micropolitan Areas)

13. Utah No. 2 In Home Price Increases Utah is No. 2 among states in home-price appreciation with a 5.6 percent increase, relinquishing the top spot to Wyoming, which posted a 6.3 percent gain. The downturn in real estate markets throughout Utah has pushed home sales down and led to moderating home prices. Utah slipped to No. 2 after five consecutive quarters in the top spot. Nationally, prices were down 3.1 percent in the year that ended March 31. Salt Lake City is ranked No. 22 among nearly 300 areas in home-price appreciation from the first quarter of 2007 to the same period this year with a 5.5 percent gain. The Provo-Orem area was No. 6, with a 6.8 percent gain in home prices over the one-year period. Ogden-Clearfield was No. 9, with a 6.6 percent increase. The Logan area was No. 15, with a 6 percent increase. Among Utah areas, St.George had the worst ranking, No 235, based on a 3.7 percent decline in home prices over that one-year period. The Salt Lake Tribune – May 2008

14. OFHEO MSA-Level House Price Indexes YEAR QUARTER ST.GEORGE LAS VEGAS 2008 1 -3.65 -12.0 2007 4 -1.72 -6.04 2007 3 -0.85 -3.54 2007 2 2.71 -0.58 2007 1 4.79 1.61 2006 4 11.6 5.37 2006 3 17.9 9.53 2006 2 25.5 11.6 2006 1 37.2 15.7 2005 4 35.3 15.7 2005 3 33.2 14.2 2005 2 29.2 27.1 2005 1 19.8 34.9 2004 4 16.3 38.7 2004 3 12.4 43.5 Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight – June 2008

15. ACCRA Cost of Living Index First Quarter 2008 Metro / Micro * 100% 12.49% 29.84% 9.94% 4.07% Area & State Composite Grocery Housing Utilities Health Care St.George, Utah 97.0 99.1 100.6 80.7 89.7 Las Vegas, Nevada 110.6 99.0 136.7 99.5 104.7 Salt Lake City, Utah 98.7 103.5 97.5 72.7 99.6 Cedar City, Utah * 91.7 95.6 89.6 82.4 88.6 Lake Havasu, Arizona 112.0 108.4 139.7 93.0 95.0 Kingman * Riverside, Calif. 121.2 113.2 160.2 88.9 103.6 San Bernardino Ontario, Riverside City The Council For Community And Economic Research

21. “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” http://www.sgtrends.com/

22. Acknowledgements Inwest Title Services Terra Title Company Forbes.com U.S. Census Bureau Deseret Morning News POLICOM Corporation Salt Lake Tribune Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Council For Community and Economic Research Washington County Board of REALTORS Avalanche Marketing Utah Association of REALTORS