The Oklahoman

When will the OKC housing market, so long driven by sellers, return to balance? Soon?

By Richard Mize, The Oklahoman,

3 days ago

Home sellers aren't quite flocking back to the market, but they are showing back up and inching it back to balance.

Listings were up 8% from May to June in the area covered by MLSOK Inc. , the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors' multiple listing service, which includes OKC and suburbs, as well as small towns and rural areas.

Compared to the same time last year, though, sellers did show up in a crowd, with 37.2% more listings than in June 2023 in the MLSOK coverage area , which includes the OKC metro-area and Altus associations of Realtors, and the Edmond, Mid-Del, Norman and Shawnee boards of Realtors.

The month-to-month increase is a better gauge of the present market, said Angela Harris, president of the MLSOK board and co-founder and managing broker of Spearhead Realty Group in northwest OKC.

“More people in the Oklahoma City metro feel confident in their ability to sell their home and find a new one to buy,” she said. “This is demonstrated by the increase of 500 homes on the market in a single month.”

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Listings of homes for sale are up in OKC, and central and southwestern Oklahoma, giving buyers more choices

The Realtors said June ended with 6,755 homes listed for sale with Realtors, 499 more than in May, and 1,830 more than in June 2023, in the MLSOK territory, 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.

The increase in listings for the smaller area around Oklahoma City was slightly less, 6.6% month to month, or 3,911 listings, and the year-to-year increase considerably higher at 52.3%.

That area includes Arcadia, Bethany, Blanchard, Choctaw, Deer Creek, Edmond, Harrah, Luther, Midwest City, Moore, Mustang, Newcastle, Nicoma Park, Norman, OKC, Piedmont, Tuttle, Warr Acres and Yukon.

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Sellers keep the advantage in Oklahoma City housing market, but it's getting closer to balanced

Even with hundreds more listings by homeowners willing to sell, inventory hasn't swollen enough to give buyers clear negotiating power. It is still a sellers' market.

June ended with a 2.9-month inventory of homes for sale in OKC and the suburbs, not counting homes sold directly by builders or for-sale-by-owner transactions. Sellers still have the edge over buyers in negotiations. Three months or less is considered a sellers' market, six months or more a buyers' market, and in between a balanced market.

Sellers continued to return to the market in May, with 3,668 homes listed for sale in OKC and the suburbs, up 9.8% compared with April and 59% more than in May of 2023, the Realtors reported.

That amounted to a 2.7-month supply, not counting homes sold directly by builders or in for-sale-by-owner transactions. Sellers still have the edge over buyers in negotiations. Three months or less is considered a sellers' market, six months or more a buyers' market, and in between a balanced market.

Home price increases continue in Oklahoma City and suburbs

The average sale price in June, $341,115, was up 6.2%% from a year ago, and up 4.6% from May, the Realtors reported.
The median price, considered a better gauge because it ignores extremes, was $285,000, up 2.5% from a year ago, and unchanged from May, according to the Realtors.

June home sales in OKC and suburbs, year over year, month to month

Pending sales, those under contract but not yet closed, ended June at 1,596, up 6.2% year over year, but down 5.8% from May, the Realtors reported.
In all, 1,493 homes sold in June, down 12.1% year over year, and down 5.3% from May.
Home shoppers have considerably more houses to choose from. June ended with 3,911 homes for sale, up 52.3% year over year, and up 6.6% from April.

What happened with home prices in June in central and western Oklahoma

In the wider area covered by MLSOK :

The average price in June saw a gain of 7.6% from May, to $322,856, and up 7% compared with June 2023.
The median price in the wider area was $266,990, up 2.7% month to month and up 2.7% year over year.
June ended with 6,755 homes for sale in the wider area, up 8% month to month and up 37.2% compared with June 2023.

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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. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize . You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1 .

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: When will the OKC housing market, so long driven by sellers, return to balance? Soon?