Homes for sale supply rises despite low mortgage rates

With sales still cooling, the supply of homes for sale continues to rise in the Oklahoma City area despite mortgage rates remaining at historic lows -- even after inching up for months.

October ended with a 5.4-month supply of homes on the market, up from a five-month supply in August and a four-month supply at the start of the year, according to The Oklahoman's analysis of data from the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors. The supply was determined by dividing the number of listings for sale at the end of October by the average number of closings over the past 12 months.

"It's been slow. This (was) probably the slowest summer I've had since I've been back in Oklahoma," said Linda Finch, a Realtor associated with Paradigm Realty in Oklahoma City.

Finch said she's never had a down year in the home-selling business. She left Oklahoma for California and a new career in real estate in 1984 when her oil-business job went bust with so many others. She said she hit Contra Costa County, Calif., as it was recovering from a housing downtown, then moved back to Oklahoma City in 1989, after the worst of the oil and real estate bust here.

Lately, she's found herself having to hustle in the slowing market.

Realtors handled the sale of 1,585 houses last month, a decrease of 2.3 percent. Price appreciation appeared clear in the Realtors' statistics, with the total value of homes sold up 1.1 percent, at $230.7 million, compared to $228.2 million in October 2005.

Home builders' intentions, as indicated by the building permits issued by the cities of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Midwest City, Moore and Norman, appear to be on a steeper decline. Together, the cities issued 4,826 permits through October, down 9.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Oklahoma City permits issued 2,973 permits, down 6.7 percent; Moore issued 469 permits, down 36 percent; and Edmond issued 522 permits, down 12.6 percent.

Midwest City and Norman bucked the trend. Midwest City issued 240 permits through October, 18.2 percent more than in the same period last year; and Norman issued 622 permits, 4.2 percent more.

Moore-based Home Creations is among the builders adjusting its construction plans downward, even as it enjoys its best year ever in 25 years of business, said Jan S. Astani, marketing director.

Home Creations had obtained 355 permits in the Oklahoma City area through this week, compared with 551 this time last year, she said.

"We have reduced our total number of permits since our efforts have been focused on selling market 'spec' homes for the last several months," she said.

Home Creations plans to meet its sales goals for 2006, Astani said.

"We have had an excellent fourth quarter, with 75 sales since October," she said. "We see no obstacles in our way of reaching 475 home sales by Dec. 31. ... Our total closing number for 2006 has already surpassed our 2005 numbers.

"We have been on a strong push for the past two months to sell our market home inventory and have had great success with a special interest rate program. We're offering 5.75 percent fixed-rate financing on homes that can close within 45 days of contract signing."

Finch said she thought the summer doldrums were over.

"I think it's picking up a little bit," she said. "There's just so much for sale out there."