Housing, housing, housing, housing, and Devon Energy

Hey, y'all. Housing dominates this week's newsletter, and it's all over the place.

• Home sales are up in OKC and its suburbs, but not as much as out in the state. What's up with that?
• Assessed market values are up in Oklahoma County, which isn't news − but they've tripled since 2000, and that surprised me.
• From my colleague Steve Lackmeyer: The Oklahoma City Housing Authority is in “imminent” danger of halting housing vouchers just as the state is about to ban public camping under highway bridges, and public land, including sidewalks.
• Also from Steve: The Residences at OAK, part of a big mixed-use project in northwest Oklahoma City, started pre-leasing Tuesday with opening set for August.

Let's get to it. Oh, if you don't subscribe to the digital Oklahoman, please consider one of these deals.

Heat waves: Home sales increase in OKC area, but lag behind central and southwest Oklahoma

Home sales heated up headed toward summertime in OKC, the rest of central Oklahoma and parts west, with transactions in May up 12.3% from April and higher than any previous month in 2024, according to the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors.

Realtor-brokered sales numbered 2,349 in the area covered by MLSOK Inc., the association's multiple listing service which covers OKC west 60 miles to Hydro, east 70 miles to Okemah, north 60 miles to Orlando, and south 60 miles to Rush Springs, plus the Altus area, 140 miles to the southwest.

Oklahoma City and the suburbs saw less of a month-to-month increase, 6.8%, or 1,565 sales, the Realtors reported, in Arcadia, Bethany, Blanchard, Choctaw, Deer Creek, Edmond, Harrah, Luther, Midwest City, Moore, Mustang, Newcastle, Nicoma Park, Norman, Oklahoma City, Piedmont, Tuttle, Warr Acres and Yukon.

Read all about it.

Oklahoma County home values have tripled since 2000

It's no secret that home prices are up ― way up ― but crunching the numbers over time shows how shockingly high they've gone, especially during the past few years with relatively low supplies of houses on the market.

They've more than tripled in value since 2000, from an average of $74,715 to an average of $264,844 in 2023, an increase of 254% Oklahoma County Assessor Larry Stein reported this week.

Read all about it.

OKC's Devon Energy buys Williston Basin assets from Houston driller in $5 billion deal

Devon Energy's $5 billion purchase of ongoing production and untapped drilling sites in North Dakota was a conservative move fitting with the OKC-based oil and gas company's usual approach to mergers and acquisitions, an analyst said.

Devon said Monday it had agreed to acquire the Williston Basin business of Houston-based, private equity-sponsored Grayson Mill Energy in a $5 billion transaction consisting of $3.25 billion of cash and $1.75 billion of stock to the sellers. ...

Devon did not respond to an inquiry from The Oklahoman, but the transaction isn't expected to result in much change, if any, to Devon's operations in OKC.

Read all about it.

OKC Housing Authority in 'imminent' danger of halting housing vouchers

By The Okahoman's Steve Lackmeyer.

The Oklahoma City Housing Authority is in “imminent” danger of halting housing vouchers to thousands on a waiting list just as state laws are about to ban public camping under highway bridges and on public land, including sidewalks.

The Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency has yet to lift a freeze it put on accepting housing choice voucher applications last year. The local housing authority, meanwhile, faces running out of vouchers for more than 10,000 people currently on its waiting list.

The federally funded housing voucher program helps low-income families, the elderly and people who are disabled to afford housing.

Read all about it.

Pre-leasing begins for apartments at OAK development set to open in August

Another story by Steve.

The Residences at OAK, part of an upscale mixed-use development being built in northwest Oklahoma City, started pre-leasing Tuesday with an opening set for late August.

The 320-unit apartments, an anchor for the 20-acre development, open up to a small park that is lined with restaurants and shops.

Read all about it.

Oklahomans in this county are evicted more than any other in the state: A look at the numbers

By The Oklahoman's Sam Royka.

Oklahoma's eviction process is "one of the fastest" in the country, reports the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

When a notice to quit is submitted, most tenants have five days to pay all past rent or move out. After this, a hearing is scheduled within 10 days after the five-day notice period ends, and if an eviction is granted, the tenant may have as little as 48 hours to move.

In Oklahoma, 48,278 evictions were filed in 2023. Of those, 17,868 were filed in Oklahoma County, with 8,602 resulting in evictions. These numbers are projected to rise further in Oklahoma City after already increasing for some time.

Read all about it.

Outparcels, pad sites, remnants, and scrapwood

• From The Oklahoman: Commercial real estate deals from around OKC
• From the city of Oklahoma City:OKC zoning map
• From the city of Oklahoma City: Do I live in OKC?

Finally ...

Here is all of my work for The Oklahoman/Oklahoman.com in one place.

Thanks for reading! What's coming up that I need to know about? What have I missed? Email me at rmize@oklahoman.com.

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Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999.