Normally Oklahomans pray for rain, but now they are praying for it to stop. We are normally in drought condition once we reach summer. At this time we have already surpassed our annual rainfall by 7 inches and rain is forecast for the next 4 days. Add to that the winter this year which is also normally dry, and it had ice and snow on the ground for over 60 days. This has put new construction back about 60 days and counting, so contracted homes originally slated for July completion can expect September. You cannot pour concrete into mud, especially our clay soil that retains moisture. However, there is good news. The precipitation that started last year to the current time and drastically reduced the amount of inventory available for sale. This has helped drive up prices in what is a very good market to begin with. Plus, my water bill is the lowest I have had in years!

I has been over 2.5 years since I started with ICG in the Oklahoma City area. In that time we have sold single family homes, high rise condos, town homes, and multi-use properties that combine commercial and residential. Our values are still climbing with a current trend that should put us at at least 8% appreciation this year. However, if the property cannot be rented in a timely fashion then appreciation can be negated or even create lower value, especially if a market is oversaturated with investment property. Our current rental situation in Oklahoma City is as follows: Edmond has 1 vacancy, Deer Creek has none, Moore has none, Choctaw has 1, Yukon has 0, Piedmont has 2 and Mustang has 3. This is out of over 300 properties. Our single family vacancy is approaching 1%. I will gladly match these stats with with any city in the United States. When you consider that a 10% down interest only loan gives you positive cash flow which is unmatched virtually anywhere, and you have had 2005 at 10.5% appreciation, 2006 at 7.1%, and 2007 expected to be higher, then you have a market that in this transitional year of real estate where many previously hot areas have depreciated and rents have gone down is the market for you. If the stock market is volatile, then you get out of stocks and go to something like safe treasury bonds or gold. Oklahoma City is your same scenario. Also, by not oversaturating the market we are now starting to see rental appreciation.

Oklahoma City has continued an amazing run of home sales in 2007. The stats for April were released, and both volume and units sold have increased over 2006 numbers in the first four months of the year. Based on current numbers, appreciation should approach 10% this year. That is a very good number considering that many markets are experiencing a downturn. Also, our rental stats are showing only a 3% vacancy rate for properties my team is involved with.