Wow..
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OKC home sales fall 37 pct from January 2008
by Kelley Chambers
February 17, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – 2008 was not a banner year for home sales in Oklahoma City and 2009 is looking bleak based on January numbers. On Monday the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors reported a 37-percent decline in homes closed in January compared to January 2008 numbers.

For January of this year, 741 homes closed and in January 2008, 1,170 homes closed.

The number also was a decline from the previous month, when there were 971 home closings. The year’s high in 2008 was in May with 1,685.

The average price of a home was about $10,000 less than in the previous January.

The number of listings remained about the same, with 8,649 in January compared to 8,783 in January of last year.

One ray of hope was a report from foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac that showed January foreclosures in Oklahoma fell 23.4 percent from January 2008, putting Oklahoma 31st in the nation with a rate of one foreclosure per 1,668 homes. The national average is one foreclosure per 466 homes. The state’s January foreclosures were down more than 21 percent from December.

Despite weak numbers in the first month of the year, Mike Cassidy, owner/broker of Paradigm Advantage, said January started shaping up as a good month for him.

“In January the phone started ringing and I started selling houses,” he said. “Before Jan. 1 the phones weren’t ringing.”

Cassidy said the January numbers reflect a weak fourth quarter, but he expects February and March numbers to reflect the healthy market starting in January, despite a 23-percent decrease in units sold in 2008.

After being in the business 35 years, Cassidy said he has seen many ups and downs and is sure things will improve.

“It will get better,” he said.

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