The Economy - A Different Point of View

Much continues to be said nationally and locally about the state of the economy. If you are like me after listening to a 30 minute news cycle, you probably want to burn your house down, leave your stock portfolio behind (what's left of it) and move to....well I don't know where, but somewhere.

Is the national economy in a recession? Yes. Is it a serious recession? Yes. Should home owners be concerned? Sure. But before you burn your house down or something equally drastic, remember this one, powerful statement: Real estate is local. What you hear about the national housing market and economy does not translate to Tulsa.

Yes, the local real estate market has settled down from it's peak in 2006. But even considering that, 2008 ranked as the fourth best year ever in the Tulsa Real Estate Market and the best year ever for local real estate values.

In 2008, the greater Tulsa real estate market saw 13,454 properties close sale at an average price of $151,478. Going back 18 years to 1991, the same market saw 4471 properties close at an average price of $78,844. Within that 18 year period, there were 4 periods of differing levels of contraction. What we are experiencing locally is just a normal part of the cycle - which is part of the good news - this is normal.

As posted previously, the national contraction may be severe in certain places (the sun belt, rust belt and both coasts are most notable), but in Tulsa, the contraction is expected to be no worse than .02%. Not exactly cause for burning down houses, jumping out of windows, etc.

Finally, 30 year fixed mortgage interest rates as of this posting are still around the 5% mark and some home builders are even offering 30 year fixed rates of well below 5%. This should help to ensure a stable market, and possibly could encourage a modest expansion in the market.