Oklahoma City Defies Recession

Of the five big metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates — Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Washington, San Antonio and Austin — four are state or U.S. capitals and all have a large government workforce.

Oklahoma City's economy is not only diversified but, by coincidence, is strong in areas that are thriving — or at least not collapsing — in this recession:

•Government jobs: As a state capital, it has a jobs base that enjoys the stability of government — federal, state and local. Despite budget shortfalls across the USA, state and local government are among the few parts of the economy that have added jobs during the recession.

•Medical and education jobs: Oklahoma City has large medical facilities and universities, types of employers that have held up well in the recession.

•Energy jobs: Oklahoma City is home to the state's two largest oil and gas companies, Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy.

The city also escaped the real estate bubble.

The area's median housing price is $129,900, up 4% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. Nationally, housing prices were down 14% during that time.

"Our highs are not high, and our lows are not low," says Michael Bernard, president of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Housing Market Going Strong

The value of your home may be going up. Home values are predicted to drop nationwide with places like Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles taking the biggest hits. But that's not the case in Tulsa. News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports that Tulsa is near the top of the list for homeowners expected to make the most money off their investment in the coming year.
The National Association of Realtors predicts the price of existing U.S. homes will fall slightly this year. But according to Fiserv Lending Solution's predictions, it won't happen in Tulsa. That comes as no surprise to realtor Darryl Baskin.
"While the rest of the country is seeing a slump, we're often trudging right along and seeing increases," he said.
Baskin is an area realtor and hosts radio and television real estate programs. He says most years homes in Tulsa appreciate 3-5%. That's right in line with a new analysis that predicts Tulsa home values will go up 4.3% from this April to next April, the second best market in the nation.
Many of those housing markets expected to see drops over the next 12 months have seen dramatic increases over the past few years. In fact, in many of those markets the home values have doubled over five years. But in those markets the bubble has seemed to have burst. Tulsa on the other hand has seen a steady, gradual increase in home values.
“The drawback is we don't have people here who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on real estate, but that's more of a lottery mentality. Here you have people who buy homes, we rarely see it go backwards, and we don't have to deal with the upheaval that the bubble would create," Baskin said.
Baskin predicts the Tulsa area will have a slight increase in demand and slight decrease in supply over the next year, which translates into a stable market.
"As long as it doesn't go too far one way or the other there's a good deal for buyers and sellers, and that's where people win," he said.
Oklahoma City homeowners are expected to see their homes appreciate in value over the next year by 3.1%. The biggest gainer is McAllen, Texas at 9.8%. The biggest loser is Las Vegas at -8.9%.

Courtesy of KOTV

www.WyattPoindexter.com
Keller Williams Realty

A Positive Outlook on Real Estate

There is one word to describe the current housing market: optimistic. Despite months of hearing about a housing bubble and rising mortgage rates, the outlook for real estate is good. The worries of a bursting real estate bubble actually seem to be low among homeowners. In a national survey conducted by ING Direct, most individuals experienced some growth in their home value in the past 12 months. The average increase was approximately 6%, with owners in New England and Pacific states having the largest growth. The values of homes in south central states remained about the same. Most homeowners do not seem concerned about a downturn in the real estate housing market. Almost 74% of the individuals surveyed, who have owned their homes for more than three years, remained optimistic about the value of their home. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is at its highest point in four years. However, as it hovers at 6 percent, it is still a relatively low rate compared to the exceedingly high rates of the late 1980s when mortgage rates increased to over 10%. According to Freddie Mac, there are indications of a strong economy, which is why mortgage rates have increased lately. Consumer confidence is on the rise and existing home sales is also on the upswing. This can be attributed to a positive labor market. As most people know, healthy employment leads to greater consumer spending. Consumer perception is everything. With the continued view that real estate is a good investment, people will continue to buy and sell houses. This will bode well for home buyers, home sellers, real estate salespeople, mortgage lenders and just about anyone related to the real estate industry.

Cost of Doing Business in Oklahoma

Oklahoma's cost of doing business is among the lowest in the nation, as reported in the annual Milken Institute Cost of Doing Business Index, released this week. Oklahoma was ranked No. 40, with a cost of doing business 85.4 percent of the national average.
Hawaii holds the distinction of having the highest cost of doing business at 51.5 percent above the U.S. average. New York and Alaska also were ranked high.
The ranking is example of Oklahoma's competitive advantage in attracting businesses to the state. Oklahoma is 8 percent below Colorado, 9 percent below Louisiana, and 12 percent below New Mexico.
Oklahoma performed best in industrial rental rates at 68.9 percent of the national average. Other factors below the U.S. norm were wage costs, 80.7 percent; office rental prices, 81.6 percent; and electricity costs, 89.2 percent.
Source: Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Quarterly Industry Update

Mortgage Fraud Bill Advances - A bill defining residential mortgage fraud passed in the North Carolina Senate in June 2007. Experts say it is likely that prospective home buyers with weak or no credit history will find it
more difficult to secure mortgages if the bill becomes law. Prosecutors
could charge mortgage sellers who lie or intentionally leave out information even if the buyers don't lose money. The bill moves to the House of Representatives for a final vote.
Subprime Issues Impact Market Psychology - Problems in the US housing market are mostly contained within the subprime mortgage sector, according to mortgage financer Freddie Mac. Rising default rates in the subprime sector are confined to a few geographic regions, a company vice president says. The biggest threat, according to Freddie Mac, is the fear that problems will spread to the larger real estate and other financial markets.
New Home Sales Continue Falling - New US home sales fell 21.1 percent in
the first five months of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006.
Residential real estate brokers are negatively impacted by declining home sales. Sales declined 30.9 percent in the West, 21.4 percent in the Midwest, 21.1 percent in the Northeast, and 20.6 percent in the South.

First Research, Inc.
866-788-9389 voice
http://www.firstresearch.com/

JULY 2007 Oklahoma City Market Conditions

Here are a few Oklahoma Market Conditions.

Wyatt Poindexter
Keller Williams Realty
http://www.wyattpoindexter.com/


There were 2,031 residential sales closed in June 2007, unchanged from June 2006.

In the metro, the average interest rate at residential closing was down 3.3%, from 6.4% in
June 2006 to 6.19% in June 2007.

The average residential sale price for a home purchased in June 2007 was $155,367, up
1.8% from the June 2006 average of $152,652.

The average number of days on the market for a home was up 12.1%, from 66 days in
June 2006 to 74 days in June 2007. (Source: OKC Metropolitan Association of Realtors)

Oklahoma City ranked 13th in population growth between July 2005 and July 2006
among all U.S. cities with more than 500,000 people. Most U.S. cities grew by less than
one percent, while Oklahoma City grew by 1.26 percent.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric has received the highest overall ranking in customer
satisfaction among utilities in the southern United States, according to J.D. Power &
Associates.

A new shopping center has been proposed for Yukon. Yukon Village Shopping Center is
set to open in October 2008 and will be along I-40 and across the street from West End
Pointe Lifestyle Center, currently in its last stages of development.