Published: March 13, 2008 09:56 am      

Home values increase in Woodward region

If you are a home owner or buying a home or property here, it is a “good thing you’re in Oklahoma.”

That is the newest campaign slogan being pushed out by Realtor members of Oklahoma Association of Realtors here, in reaction to consistently improving statistics that show, while the rest of the country struggles through decreasing home values, Oklahoma - especially Woodward - appears to be on a slow and steady incline.

Drivers in Oklahoma can expect to begin to see billboards with the “Good thing you’re in Oklahoma,” slogan and information on how to take advantage of that positive trend in the Woodward and northwestern Oklahoma area.

“It is such wonderful news and I hope we can counteract the negative information that the mainstream media is putting out there about the rest of the country that does not apply here,” said Marlene Stewart, real estate professional with Coldwell Banker.

Indeed, national news of drastically decreasing home values in the northeast and west coast along with skyrocketing adjustable mortgage rates has been key in almost all forms of media.

The information comes after a thorough study of home sales in regions throughout Oklahoma, but specific to this region, statistics show a surprising trend, she said.

Since 2002 the average price of a house that was sold in Woodward has increased markedly, going from an average of about $67,000 in 2002 to an average sale price of nearly $107,000 in 2007, Stewart said.

That is in sharp contrast to the way a recent study found Oklahomans felt about the value in their homes, Stewart said. “But we need to get the news out that people have every reason to be confident in their home value here.”

Stewart said much of the region, to include the Enid, Stillwater and Ponca City regions are also faring well.

“I think that much of the reason behind our stability when the rest of the country is having troubles was that we kept our subprime lending to less than one percent,” Stewart said. Subprime lending is a way for prospective home buyers whose credit is less than perfect to buy a home. But the rate is higher than the prime lending rate or the buyer might have to settle for an adjustable rate that can fluctuate widely.

It was the higher level of subprime lending that took place in concert with an over inflated housing market in other parts of the country that has caused some of the current problems, experts say.

But Doug Kemper of Mid First Bank believes that there is more at play here than Oklahoma’s relatively low number of subprime customers - its a measure of the whole credit picture, he said.

“If you remember, the Fort Collins and Greeley Colo. areas, three years ago, had the highest level of defaults in the country,” Kemper said. “That was because of the loss of all those dot.com jobs.”

Kemper said the current positive trend for Oklahoma cannot only be linked to better lending practices, but also to more stable employment here.

“If we started losing jobs here and you will see some of the same things we are seeing in the rest of the nation,” he said.

Despite the positive market, he said Oklahomans are still struggling with those factors at play nationally that impact buyers here. While a year ago, he would have been able to approve loans for people with credit scores in the mid 500s, now, he is seeing people with a FICA score of 730 being required to come up with down payments.

Kemper said much of it is still linked to a volatile bond market and nervous investors.

Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, an agency that assists first-time home buyers in the state, typically present a program that helps home buyers come up with down payments using bond money, Kemper said.

“But this year, they have declined to come out with a program because the bonds re so unstable,” Kemper said.

Nevertheless, Oklahomans are better poised than just to continue buying and investing in homes here, he said.

“FHA, VA and USDA loans are all great rates and still available here,” he said. “I’d rather be here right now than almost anywhere else in the country.”