A house is for sale in Broken Arrow in 2012. The metro area had 8.9 months of inventory remaining in November. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World file
Last year was a much better one for Tulsa-area real estate. As of November, home sales were up 15 percent year-over-year.
Susan Beach, the newly installed president of the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors, said things should keep improving over the next 12 months.
"We've got nothing but good things to look forward to in 2013," she said.
In addition to strong indicators like affordable housing prices, low interest rates and a strong local economy, Beach said the steady decline in inventory since mid-2012 is the strongest sign things are continuing to turn around.
As of last November, the metro area had approximately 8.9 months of inventory remaining, compared to 11.5 months in November 2011.
That's changing the face of the market.
"We've got more buyers than we have houses to sell," Beach said. "For sellers, that's a great thing, but for buyers, their sense of urgency needs to change."
Beach said buyers had been waiting for prices to bottom out, but with the average monthly sales price for November up 17.6 percent from a year ago, they can no longer sit back and wait.
Another effect of declining inventory should be to further encourage home construction, she said. Through November, home construction in 2012 outpaced the same period in 2011 by more than 30 percent.
Beach said that all local sectors of housing should continue to see increases. Even the most expensive homes, which had lagged in the post-recession years, have seen renewed movement.
The only real concern she has toward the next year is what effect the lingering Congressional battle over taxes and the budget will have on home-buying incentives.
"People are holding their breath wondering about the mortgage deduction, but that's the only thing people are worrying about," Beach said.
Original Print Headline: GTAR leader expects real estate to keep improving
Real Estate
U.S. homebuilders' confidence in the housing market held this month at its highest level in nearly eight years. But builders are starting to worry that sales may slow if mortgage rates continue to rise.
New home construction in the Tulsa region from January to August is outpacing last year's numbers, a continuation of the upward tick that started in 2012 following a six-year slide.
