First, local lenders and a few commentators told us that the subprime mortgage mess, for the most part, missed us.
Then, state real estate agents told us home values were not only firm in Oklahoma, but rising — even as housing in much of the rest of the country was hitting the skids.
Advertisement
Then, metro-area home builders told us to ignore the national news — because real estate is local and although there is something of a construction slowdown here, it's mainly because a boom was over, not that a bust had begun.
Prophets, they say, aren't taken seriously in their own countries. People doubted.
Will the measured and respected voice of an outsider help them believe?
Forbes.com has called Oklahoma City the most recession-proof city in the nation, partly because it has "one of the country's strongest housing markets.”
The median home price increased here 8.2 percent between fourth quarter 2006 and fourth quarter 2007, Forbes.com said, citing figures from the National Association of Realtors.
That increase is a little higher but not out of line with Oklahoma City figures for the same period from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. In February, the agency reported a 6 percent increase in its index that tracks home sales and mortgage refinancings, and a 5.2 percent increase in its transactions-only index.
Strength in housing is tied to jobs, experts say, and jobs in Oklahoma again are tied to the oil patch and the natural gas business and related companies, which are in revival, and agriculture and agribusiness, which also are on the upswing.
Yet, the year here started with a slowdown in home sales at both ends of the market.
Home builders scaled back, and others quit the business.
Now, with 2008 one third gone, there is a six-month supply of houses on the market here.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
The Oklahoma Association of Realtors, suspecting gloom-and-doom national headlineswere spooking both buyers and sellers, put $200,000 into a marketing campaign in February saying "Good Thing You're in Oklahoma.” The Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association followed with a $50,000 campaign trumpeting the claim that Oklahoma City is "Defying the Trend” of the housing crash on the coasts.
Realtors and builders said Thursday they saw the Forbes.com story — rare positive national news from the heartland — as vindication for what they've been saying for months.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I don't dance ... . But if there were any flies on the wall in my office when I read the Forbe's article, they might have seen a certain someone dancing a little jig,” said Jeff Click, first vice president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.
"It's almost as though we've been yelling through our hands until we're hoarse in our campaign that things are still good here, and now someone's finally handed us a bullhorn.”
Being on top is "always great,” said Lisa Yates, chief executive of the state Realtors. "Oklahoma City's recognition by Forbes confirms what we knew about the housing market.”
"Forbes hit the nail on the head and confirms what we've been saying for a couple of years. Oklahoma City is a shining light of positive news in an otherwise negative national focus,” said Steve Shoemaker, of marketing director for Ideal Homes in Norman.
Related to this story
Articles
Oklahoma City named as 'recession proof' 05/02/2008 Oklahoma City's ability to avoid the economic doldrums afflicting much of the rest of the nation has garnered the city a "recession-proof” label from...
0
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).