Today marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. For the past century, the Boy Scouts of America has been a premier organization for teaching boys to be good men. In addition to camping and outdoors skills, boys are taught leadership, character, citizenship, and service to others.

I have many fond memories from my scouting days with Troop 15 at the First Presbyterian Church. And I’ve always taken pride in attaining the Eagle Scout Award. Eagle Scout is the highest award presented by the BSA, a worthy accomplishment only 5% of Scouts attain. The award represents many years of dedication and service as well as commitment to the values of Scouting. The capstone of earning this rank is the Eagle Project, which requires that the Scout “…plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community.” People can say that someone “was” a First Class Scout in their youth, but once a man earns Eagle, he always IS an Eagle Scout – “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.”

In the Air Force, I graduated from three survival schools, and all seemed a breeze after my time in scouting.

Happy birthday BSA!

On January 20th, FHA announced changes in its residential loan programs designed primarily to prevent the insolvency of the FHA insurance fund. The fund insures lenders against loss when FHA loans go bad. In its most recent audit, FHA reported that its reserves had fallen below the congressionally-mandated two-percent of its loan portfolio, and some industry experts are concerned that the fund eventually will require a bailout from the Treasury.

The recent changes include:

• An increase in the upfront mortgage insurance fee paid by borrowers at closing from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount. This takes effect on all loans assigned after April 5th, 2010. If you are moving to Oklahoma City or Edmond, get under contract before April 5th with an assigned case number to save on your mortgage insurance;
• An increase in the minimum down payment for borrowers with credit scores below 580 from 3.5% to 10%; and
• A decrease in the maximum amount a property seller is allowed to contribute to the buyer’s closing costs (seller concessions) from 6% to 3%. HUD (Housing and Urban Development) has not determined when this will go into effect.

The changes could have been worse. Most buyers add the upfront mortgage insurance fee to their loan balances rather than pay it at closing, so the increase is unlikely to discourage buyers. Very few lenders currently approve loans for borrowers with credit scores below 580, so the higher down payment standard will affect few potential buyers.

The most significant change is the decrease in the maximum seller concessions. The change makes FHA’s guidelines consistent with conventional loan guidelines. It is said the change was aimed at arresting the practice of sellers increasing their sales prices to absorb buyers’ closing costs.

FHA left the monthly mortgage insurance premium rate as it is — for now. FHA indicated it would like to increase the rate, but this requires congressional approval. An increase in this rate will reduce the number of qualified buyers because a higher premium raises the buyers’ debt ratio, which, of course, is one of the primary loan qualifying factors.

Sandridge, Devon Energy and Chesapeake are aiming to make Oklahoma City the natural gas capital of America and are definitely changing our skyline. Sandridge announced the expansion yesterday on CNBC.

When a buyer begins their home search, they need to first determine how much they are qualified for and what price range makes them most comfortable with their monthly payment. When that’s done, the search is narrowed based on location, condition and amenities.

While the old real estate mantra is location, location, location — the primary driver in most home purchases is price, price price.

2009 home sales in northwest Oklahoma City and Edmond, broken down by price range:

When you review these 2009 sales, it’s interesting because although we see a slight decrease (3%) in sales, but there’s a dramatic shift in price into the lower price ranges. There’s a significant increase in the number of sales from $100,000 to $200,000, while there’s a dramatic decrease in sales from $250,000 and higher. I think a lot of the shift is due to the first-time homebuyer credits offered in 2009 and now extended into 2010. Most first-time buyers buy at or below the average sale price. In northwest Oklahoma City and Edmond, the average sale price in 2009 was $199,185 and homes from $100,000 to $250,000 made up about 60% of the annual sales.

If you’re selling your home, the issue is inventory. If you’re considering selling your northwest Oklahoma City or Edmond home in 2010, you can face some stiff competition depending upon where your home is located and what condition it is in.

If your home is priced over $500,000, the numbers are disheartening. Over $500,000, the number of homes currently on the market exceed the total number of homes sold in 2009 in that price range.

What’s a home seller to do?

Be realistic. Seeing your up against a lot of competition means you must be priced competitively from day one! Your home needs to be immaculate. Make the necessary repairs, stage it properly and make it stand out from the crowd ‘looks-wise’ and ‘price-wise’. If you’d like to know the competitive price for your home, let us help.

What’s happening in the real estate market in 73120? The charts and stat table below reflect single family homes in 73120.

73120 Single Family Home Sales Since January 1, 2010

Are you a Oklahoma City real estate junkie? Sign up to receive very detailed real-time market reports in your email. Just register and let me know what neighborhoods you’re interested in.

Market data for zip 73120 effective as of January 26, 2010. Data provided by Altos Research and MLSOK for the period January 1, 2010 to January 26, 2010, while deemed reliable is  not guaranteed.

Oklahoma City’s luxury housing market was very challenging last year. Twenty-nine homes sold for $1 million or more compared to 65 in 2008 and 49 in 2007. Below are Oklahoma City’s twenty most expensive home sales for 2009.

View Oklahoma City’s Most Expensive Home Sales of 2009 in a larger map

Address	List Price	Closed Price
5208 Wisteria Drive Oklahoma City 73142	3,700,000	3,250,000
6500 Oak Tree Dr Edmond 73025	3,950,000	2,650,000
7000 Nichols Nichols Hills 73116	2,950,000	2,595,000
1 Seward Rd. E. of Luther Rd. Luther 73054	4,750,000	2,400,000
14912 Dalea Oklahoma City 73142	2,495,000	2,350,000
1601 Bedford Nichols Hills 73116	2,000,000	1,900,000
1505 Dorchester Nichols Hills 73120	1,995,000	1,800,000
15708 Fairview Farm Edmond 73013	1,895,000	1,730,000
1205 Huntington Nichols Hills 73116	1,695,000	1,500,000
7414 N Country Club Dr Oklahoma City 73116	1,895,000	1,450,000
1805 W Wilshire Nichols Hills 73116	1,875,000	1,400,000
11608 Old Mill Road Oklahoma City 73131	1,690,000	1,375,000
5907 Newport Edmond 73013	1,399,900	1,350,000
1641 Saratoga Way Edmond 73003	1,395,000	1,325,000
1628 Saratoga Edmond 73003	1,325,000	1,275,000
11925 Stonemill Road Oklahoma City 73131	1,425,000	1,275,000
6601 N Oak Heritage Trail Edmond 73025	1,479,000	1,200,000
7210 Waverly Avenue Nichols Hills 73120	1,495,000	1,200,000
7313 Lancet Nichols Hills 73116	1,295,000	1,162,000
11224 Hillsdale Drive Edmond 73013	1,285,000	1,155,000

]]> http://okchomesellers.com/statistics/oklahoma-citys-most-expensive-home-sales-of-2009/feed/ 0 http://okchomesellers.com/statistics/highs-lows-of-2009-oklahoma-city-real-estate/ http://okchomesellers.com/statistics/highs-lows-of-2009-oklahoma-city-real-estate/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:28:00 +0000 Bill Wilson http://okchomesellers.com/statistics/highs-lows-of-2009-oklahoma-city-real-estate/

I thought it would be fun to look through the Oklahoma City MultiList (MLS) and see the results for 2009. Overall I’d have to say 2009 was not a good year for real estate here, but here’s the results:

MOST EXPENSIVE HOME

$3,250,000. 5208 Wisteria Drive, on the golf course in Gaillardia. A stunning home with 9,280 square feet. It closed in July.

HIGHEST PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT

$341.45. 7000 Nichols Road in Nichols Hills. This 7,600 square foot home actually was number 2. 5208 Wisteria above was number 1 at $350, but I’m showing this to show something different.

LEAST EXPENSIVE HOME

$7,600.  510 SE 18th St. in Oklahoma City. This foreclosure was sold as-is in July.

LOWEST PRICE PER FOOT

$6.55. 1720 E Park Place in Oklahoma City. This 2 bedroom, 840 square foot home sold in August.

LONGEST ON THE MARKET

2,131 Days. Wow! Nearly 6 years for 1610 S Jensen in El Reno! This home closed for $54,000 in September.

GREATEST OVERBID

$32,500. 4219 N Barr listed for $107,500 and closed for $140,000.

GREATEST AMOUNT UNDER ORIGINAL LIST PRICE

$2,350,000.  1 E Seward Rd in Luther originally listed at $4,750,000 and closed for $2,400,000 in July after 324 days on the market.

This is certainly not a scientific study, but nevertheless fun to look at.