Great to be in Oklahoma!

Don’t listen to the national media -- Oklahoma is number one in nation for home value gains! This comes at a time when homeowners in other parts of the country are wondering what happened to their equity, reports Gary Atchley.
“Slow and steady was our pace and it still is. Bottom line, our prices are still on the rise and this may be the best time to buy.”
Our state led the nation in appreciation, first among the 50 states, for the period ending June 30th. With values in a historic general national decline in some of the country, and in a freefall in select states, values in Oklahoma rose 4.9 percent in the second quarter compared with the second quarter of 2007, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Home Price Index. Nationally, values fell 1.7 percent during the same period. The U.S. purchase-only index tumbled 4.8 percent over the year, the agency reported.
Oklahoma reports 2 strong markets - Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In fact, Tulsa ranked 10th among metro areas, with an increase of 4.87 percent. Specifically, our area in Oklahoma City ranked 17th with an increase of 4.68 percent. Quarter to quarter, Tulsa values increased 0.91 percent and Oklahoma City values increased 1.87 percent, the federal agency reported.
This echoed second-quarter statistics from the National Association of Realtors. Oklahoma City and Tulsa were among 35 metro areas that showed gains in median home prices in the second quarter. Oklahoma City's median price of $131,000 was 1.3 percent higher than the $129,300 recorded in the second quarter of 2007 and 4.8 percent higher than the $124,900 recorded in the first quarter.
Oklahoma is very fortunate. This is the eighth straight year we are seeing steady increases in home appreciation. We have not experienced the sharp increases or decreases in home values that have occurred elsewhere. On the contrary, we have continued to see slight but steady growth during these uncertain times for other markets. This dynamic is fueled by the fact that our market is made up of solid demand from home owners rather than from real estate speculators, adds Gary.
Nationally however, there is a lot of gloom and doom in the news. “Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper everyday,” stated Phil Gramm, top
economic advisor to Sen. John McCain. The US economic situation has been portrayed in the media as being brought about by the rising cost of oil and the “burst bubble” in the housing market. While cost of oil hangs at near record levels, the housing market is really a nationwide problem? You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” said Gramm in July.
Isn’t it wonderful to be in Oklahoma!!!