Year-to-date sales in the metro area through October have been very strong, although we are seeing a slight slowdown in late October and November. This is normal with the approaching holidays, although the recent oil industry layoffs may also be having a negative effect on the market.
Average Sales Price Going Up
According to the preliminary trends reported by the OKC Metro Realtors Association, the OKC metro market area has experienced some upward momentum with the increase of Average Price this month. Average sales prices in Oklahoma County went up 5.98% in October 2015 to $189,920 versus the previous year at $179,199. Average sales price for Edmond was $270,090 for October 2014 versus $291,956 for October 2015, an increase of 8.09%.
Our analysis of 12 month average sales price for Oklahoma County shows a slightly different picture. As you can see by this chart, average single family residential home prices for Oklahoma County have started dropped from their record high in June and are trending slightly downward, but still up from October 2014.
Average Days on Market Shortens
The average number of 52.23 days that homes spent on the market before selling decreased by 8.86 days or 14.50% in October 2015 compared to last year’s same month at 61.09 DOM. This indicates a strong market with a short supply of inventory – hence the increase in average sales price. However, November days on market sees a significant increase, indicating either a slowdown in sales or an increase in homes coming on the market.
Listing Price vs Selling Price gap Widens
We are starting to see an increased gap between the listing price and the actual selling price, as noted by the chart below. This typically happens when demand slows from a hot market. Sellers feel their home should sell for top dollar because of a strong market, but slowing demand means that to actually sell their home they must take less than the original asking price, sometimes significantly less. You can see below that the gap was wider last winter, then began to narrow in the spring and summer months, and now is starting to widen again. Again we are not sure if this is a normal seasonal swing or indicative of an overall slowing market.
Edmond Price Range Stays Strong
As the following chart shows, the vast majority of homes in Edmond sell between $150,000 and $350,000.
Median Home Price in Edmond Continues to Increase
The median home price in Edmond continues a general overall increasing trend, now approaching $250,000.
KayPratt.com Stats
We have seen the traffic www.kaypratt.com, increase significantly in 2015 vs 2014. We saw a 97% increase in visitors for 2015, for a total of 33,033 visitors to our site for the past 12 months. Summer 2015 was exceptionally strong, although traffic has slowed slightly in in the later part of 2015 to more normal numbers.
Summary
2015 has been a very good year for home sales, especially in Edmond. We have been on a record pace since spring and our own kaypratt.com web site stats show this same trend. We are starting to see indications of a slowing market, although since we are slowing from a record high market, it means that homes sales are still very strong historically. As interest rates continue at historically low rates, we believe the residential home market in central Oklahoma will remain strong, although not at the record pace of 2015. There are lots of business growth in the Metro OKC area and we are hoping this strong growth makes up for the slowing in our oil industry. Time will tell.