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Why would I think about buying a home now when everything I read and hear in the National news says the "sky is falling"?

                                                                          updated 10/23/08

We receive many inquiries from people thinking about buying a home.  They usually start with a question like "Is this a good time to buy a home in the Edmond or metropolitan Oklahoma City area?"

With the never ending stories and reports in the National news about some of the problems in the housing market and home loan market, that is a very good, and very reasonable question.

My answer is Yes, I do believe that this is a good time to buy a home.

Let's talk about our local real estate market in the Edmond and metropolitan Oklahoma City area.

The median home price increased 4.9% from the 2nd Quarter of 2007 to the 2nd Quarter of 2008. The average price increased to $149,668 at the end of September 2008. While our prices have seen some small price fluctuations month over month, the trend is still steady. The average interest rate for a traditional 30 year fixed rate mortgage remained below 5.7%.  The average days on market was at 85 days. We are now in a more "normal" market, which is pretty evenly divided between a "buyers" and a "sellers" market.

Why is Oklahoma real estate so strong?

     Oklahoma has been experiencing very healthy job and population growth.

     According to the "Best Cities for Jobs" report recently released by Forbes magazine, Oklahoma City was 10th in the rankings in the largest 100 metropolitan areas included in the rankings.  The rankings included five criteria weighted equally: unemployment, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living.  These are the strongest factors that determine the health of the housing market in any market.

     In April, Forbes Magazine named Oklahoma City as the most recession proof city in the country, based on our population growth, job growth, the strength in our housing market, etc.

     Oklahoma is currently ranked as the 10th fastest growing state in the country.

     Oklahoma City's metro area employment gain for the month of September 2008 was 7,000 jobs, with the current unemployment rate for the state at 3.5% for the current month.

     The cost of living for the city of Edmond ranked 11% below the national average for the second quarter of 2008, according to the cost of living index produced by the Council for Edonomic Research.  Edmond ranked below the national average in all six categories: groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods.

     The sales tax collections increased to $3,849,690 for September 2008, which represents an increase of 15.2% over September 2007.  This reflects both the health and the growth of the city of Edmond. 

The "Oklahoma Numbers" regarding the reasons for home loan defaults.     

When the numbers are studied, the reasons for home loan defaults are many, but losing a job accounts for 36.3% of the home loan defaults, with 25% of the home loan defaults being caused by illness or death and only 13.6% of the home loan defaults being caused by too much debt.         

The "Oklahoma Numbers" regarding foreclosure and loan delinquencies. 

The vast majority of foreclosures are in six states - California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada, which represent more than 60% of all foreclosures in the country.  The fact is, Oklahoma foreclosures rates are up from 2007, but are still below the national average.  The foreclosure rate increased only 10.7% from September of 2007 to September of 2008, and the foreclosure rate from August of 2008 to September of 2008 actually decreased 6.8%.  The delinquency rates in the Oklahoma City metropolitan statistical area found that 1.41% of mortgage loans  in the area were in foreclosure, which means that 98.59% of our local mortgages are not in foreclosure!  While we don't like to see any foreclosures, they are not "rampant" as the national news media would lead you to believe.

 An Update On The Oklahoma Real Estate Market

Oklahoma is a shining example that "all real estate is local". If you only listened to the National news media it would certainly seem to be a pretty bleak time for housing in America. Unfortuntately, the National news media does not tell our Oklahoma story, that "real estate is A-OK in Oklahoma"!

THIS IS WHY I BELIEVE THAT IT IS A GOOD TIME TO BUY A HOME!