Home starts slip, inventory sales remain strong in Oklahoma City area

Homebuilders hurried into spring at a pace 2.7% above last year, but the rush has subsided: In the dead of summer, starts slipped 2.6% below midyear-2018, statistics show.

Sales are strong, though, builders said, soaking up inventory of new move-in-ready houses.

Builders started 2,936 new houses through July, compared with 3,014 during the first seven months of last year, in Oklahoma City, unincorporated Oklahoma County, Bethany, Blanchard, Choctaw, Edmond, Midwest City, Moore, Mustang, Newcastle, Noble, Norman, Shawnee and Yukon, according to The Builder Report by Norman-based Dharma Inc.

"Buyer mood has been better than it has in the last couple years. Builders seem to have less inventory because sales have picked up a little bit," said Rusty Appleton, executive officer of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, which is gearing up for the annual Parade of Homes.

The Parade of Homes, Sept. 14-22, will have 102 new houses all over the metro area. The chairman is John Nail of John Nail Construction in Yukon.

The Featured Community will be Woodland Park, north of E Covell Road and west of N Douglas Boulevard in Edmond. Featured builders in Woodland Park are Beacon Homes, Shaw Homes, and Shawn Forth Homes.

Home shoppers visiting the parade will come ready to buy as likely as wanting to build, said Caleb McCaleb, owner of McCaleb Homes in Edmond.

"Lower interest rates have brought a large number of buyers back into the market," McCaleb said. "I think most buyers in OKC can still find affordable homes, which is not the case in most of the USA right now. 2018 and 2019 are almost mirror images in the number of single-family home permits pulled for greater OKC. We are all watching 2020 closely."

Builders are taking more orders to build even as inventory sales remain strong, said Steve Shoemaker, vice president of marketing for Idea Homes of Norman.

"Over the past month we opened new sections in our Blanchard, Edmond, and Choctaw communities and sold 13 home sites almost before the pavement was dry. Same with Stillwater this week: Four home site reservations in the first 48 hours of opening a new section in The Canyons," Shoemaker said.

He said Ideal Homes is performing better than planned this year, even at move-up price ranges.

"We put a conservative sales forecast in place for 2019. Through nearly eight full months we’ve exceeded that forecast by about 20%," Shoemaker said. "Tight inventory in the existing home market continues to push buyers toward our new constructed completed inventory. Even though most of our more affordable neighborhoods are exceeding projections, we just completed an in-depth market study that shows increased demand for homes over $300,000 in Oklahoma City. Which explains why we’ve see stronger than usual demand in our neighborhoods offering homes at a higher price point.

"So all in all, the market remains strong for homes spanning a wide price point. Low interest rates help for sure, but all of the economic indicators that we look at point to positive consumer confidence."