A defined and separate market
Cedar City is the centre of the Cedar City Micropolitan Statistical Area, CBSA 16260, covering Iron County. It is not part of the St. George metro. That distinction is the foundation of every accurate statement about prices here.
What underpins demand
Southern Utah University, the summer festival season, the interstate, and proximity to both the mountain and the desert. Those are durable, and they are why the town has a floor that a place this size would not otherwise have.
The range of housing
Older homes near the centre on smaller lots with mature trees. Newer subdivisions expanding outward. Acreage on the valley floor. Mountain property up toward Brian Head. Those are genuinely different products at genuinely different prices.
What outsiders get wrong
Two things, consistently. They import St. George numbers, and they underestimate winter. Both are easy to fix by asking.