Six local association presidents attended the state
convention. From left are Dave Callant of Enid, David
Caddell of Norman, Kent Bradley of Stillwater, Kurt
Dinnes of Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association
and Richard Hand of Shawnee. Not pictured is Dusty
Riggs of Sallisaw.
By Carol Hartzog, For OSHBA
In a snapshot, here are some comments about the economy from around the state, as shared by the leadership in attendance at the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association annual convention in July.
-- Home Builders Association of GREATER TULSA: "Permits are getting some movement. Hallelujah. It's been a long, cold winter," said Brandon Perkins, state association president. As an aside, during the hailstorms, some builders had 12-13 claims.
-- STILLWATER: "Permits are a little flat. Several of them are for multiple-family and retirement communities." The city enacted recently Community Development Standards, which have resulted in a slower response rate in permit turnaround, from one day to an average of 20 days.
-- MOORE: Business is steadily increasing. The market is good. All homes in the Festival of Homes in May sold.
-- BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA: Building permits thus far through May are 164, compared to 175 for the same period last year. Nearly 700 toured the Festival of Homes, and 23 new members joined BASCO in May.
-- ENID: Nine permits issued thus far this year, compared to a total of 13 last year. The spring home show was the best they ever had. The length of time to pull a permit is still an issue, with the last one pulled taking six weeks.
-- CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION: The number of building permits through June stands at 2,540, compared to 2,057 last years - a 23 percent increase. And the new Event Center has increased its room rentals by 60 percent thus far this year, with approximately $20,000 in rentals already booked for next year.
-- SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION: Existing home sales and building permit numbers are up over last year, and there is a significant increase in commercial activity. The industry is still primarily a custom market, with some spec business activity.
-- SHAWNEE: Permits are down and there remains a six-month inventory, but there is not a great number of empty lots.
-- ROGERS COUNTY: The annual golf tournament was held in May with 22 teams and Home & Garden Show was held in March. While there were fewer vendors, the attendance was up.
-- BARTLESVILLE: "Not a whole lot going on." They no longer have a home show or parade of homes.
--SEQUOYAH COUNTY HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION: Just plain bad.
