Tony Stasiek

As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, November 2009.

Two of Oklahoma City's largest employers — Devon Energy Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. — also are among the nation's top 25 best-paying companies, according to Fortune. Only Dallas, Seattle and California's Silicon Valley can boast the same for their areas. And all had median home prices well greater than Oklahoma City's in August.

What the Locals Say _____________________________________ "Residential transactions have lessened tremendously because of the market being the way it is. I see more credit scores of 400 and 500 than I've seen in the industry before. Banks' criteria used to be that they wouldn't do anything under 580, then 620. Now, it's about 680 to get funding." — Karlos A. LeSure, branch manager, American Mortgage Group

That combination of strong wages and low cost of living often is a formula for affordability — and partially why Forbes ranked Oklahoma's capital as the nation's top recession-bounceback city in 2008. But whether the city's high earners can sustain that level — or are artificially inflating the city's stats — is the story local economists are watching.

It's a reason an Oklahoma State University forecast predicted a "visible strain" to the buffers protecting Oklahoma City from the nation's economic woes at the beginning of the year. Already, the city's unemployment rate has surpassed the 5-percent level the forecast hadn't anticipated until 2010.

Although death of the subprime (aka, nonprime) sector — which accounted for loan volume of more than $800 million in the city in 2005 and '06, according to MortgageDataWeb.com — and local bank turnover have stunted financing options and thus, housing demand locally, the supply side has promise. Building was held relatively in check this decade, and the local housing stock has aged beyond the U.S. average. That has helped home prices stay low — even as fluctuating energy prices swing homeowners' paychecks to and fro.

Vitals

⇑ Population: 551,789

• Population in 2000: 506,132
• Rank (U.S.): 31st-largest
• Metropolitan-area population: 1.2 million
• Metropolitan-area rank (U.S.): 44th-largest

⇓ Average commute: 19.7 minutes

• Average commute in 2000: 20.8 minutes
• U.S: 25.3 minutes

⇑ Median household income: $41,885

• Median household income in 2000: $34,947
• U.S.: $50,740

⇑ Median age: 35 years

• Median age in 2000: 34 years
• U.S.: 36.7 years

⇑ Unemployment: 5.7 percent

• Unemployment in July 2008: 3.8 percent
• U.S. (July): 9.4 percent

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