By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
Local realtors have a bit of a problem these days with homes in Canadian County selling so fast.
There is little left to sell.
Canadian County has a shortage of new homes for sale because of the number of people wanting one, said Jess Walton, a realtor of three years who has joined Frank Greer Realty Team in Yukon.
Walton said all houses in June were selling in Canadian County after an average 15 days on the market. July numbers are not yet in, but she expects that amount of time will be even less as more people are selling homes these days, despite the ongoing pandemic.
Houses are selling in an average 9 days in Oklahoma County.
In June 2019, the average number of days on the market was 17 in Canadian County. In January, the number of days a home took to sell was an average 32 days, Walton said.
In June, 510 Canadian County homes were listed for sale and 464 of those have closed on the deals. That is a 55.6% increase in county home sales compared to June 2019, according to the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors.
In May, the average day on the market for a home, new or previously lived in, was 19 days.
While the pandemic shut down the economy nationwide, home sales in Canadian County have only increased, so the problem can be selling out of everything available, Walton said.
The average price of a home sale in June in Canadian County was $221,360.
Frank Greer, whose team is affiliated with McGraw Realtors, said he did not have a house listed for sale this week because sales have been so fast.
“Our main problem right now is we don’t have enough inventory,” Greer said.
“I have sold out of inventory.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales hit a nearly 13 year high in June with 776,000 sold.
Interest rates have dropped to about 3%.
Greer said Yukon and the surrounding area has a new home shortage.
Oklahoma is one of 29 states that would be considered having a housing deficit, Greer said.
“A house will come on the market, and if it is in a price range people are looking for there are going to be more people who will bid on it,” Greer said.
Walton said because homes are selling fast, there are multiple bidders and sellers are not only getting their asking prices but often more due to the number of offers.
Walton said, “The problem that we run into is when we sell one so fast and then it is an auction.”
“The majority of the houses we have been listing are getting multiple offers,” Walton said.
As the economy started to reopen in May, home sales picked up and the county’s growth continued. Sales in May in Canadian County were 488, compared to 332 homes sold in May, 2019.
“We have more buyers than we have houses,” Walton said.
Greer said Oklahoma is drawing people from other parts of the country, where the pandemic has caused more layoffs and more companies are letting people work from home. So people are moving to the state.
Oklahoma has done a good job of diversifying from agriculture and oil and gas in the past 40 years, Greer said.
“We are a lot more diversified here than people realize,” Greer said.
While there may not be enough new houses for buyers, there is a lot of development in Canadian County, he said.
There is a new development on 160-acres south of Northwest Expressway on the east side of State Highway 4/Piedmont Road near Surrey Hills, and builders are busy.
The lower price of land and homes in Oklahoma compared to New York or California will continue to attract more people. During the oil bust in the 1980s, people sold property in California and moved to Oklahoma where the cost of living is affordable, Greer said.
“It’s an interesting time, I don’t even remember ever not having a house to list in my inventory.”
