Tulsa Less Affected By Falling Home Prices

By Emory Bryan, News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Falling home prices have caused problems on Wall Street, but it's a problem that hasn't overwhelmed continued growth in Tulsa real estate. Foreclosures happen far more often in other parts of the country.

Oklahoma lagged behind other states when it came to increasing home prices and now that's helping protect Tulsa from the problems caused by falling prices.

There are thousands of homes for sale in Tulsa, but only a few are in foreclosure. Homes are being sold by lenders, but in Oklahoma, it's still unusual. Elsewhere in the country, especially in Florida and California, it's much more common.

"We did not have the huge run up in prices that many areas of the country did," said Coldwell Banker Broker Ron Sumner.

Sumner says so far Tulsa area prices are stable and foreclosures are not causing a drop in overall home values.

"Here's it's affecting us some, but because our rate is lower than other parts of the country it hasn't affected our values and our values still seem to be, the average price that people are paying in this area is still going up slightly," said Sumner.

Home foreclosures are up compared to last year; in Oklahoma, by 5%, but nationally by 27%. The foreclosure rate for last month in Oklahoma was 1 in 1,173 homes compared to the national average of 1 in 420 homes.

Not all of the signs are good for the Tulsa market, where realtors say homes over $200,000 are hard to sell. The good news is that less expensive homes make up more of the market, and they're still selling.