New crop of homes
Rain this year apparently hasn’t dampened home construction. Shown is Gibbs-Hancock Luxury Estates’ 14909 Cascade Drive in The Falls, north of NE 150 and east off Post Road.
Unusually frequent, heavy rains this year apparently haven’t dampened home construction in Oklahoma City.
Based on the number of building permits issued, metro-area builders started 4.8 percent more houses through September than in the first three quarters of last year, according to The Builder Report by Dharma Inc. in Norman.
Builders started 3,815 houses, compared with 3,640 through September 2017, in Oklahoma City, unincorporated Oklahoma County, Bethany, Blanchard, Choctaw, Edmond, Midwest City, Moore, Mustang, Newcastle, Noble, Norman, Shawnee and Yukon, according to the report.
For their part, Realtors handled 3.3 percent more sales than in the metro area than in the first three quarters of last year, 14,116 compared with 13,670, according to the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors.
Construction actually managed to pick up even as the rains came a-tumbling down. Builders started the year with a slight stumble, ending March down 1.2 percent compared with the first quarter of last year.
Builders had no choice but to adapt, said builderdeveloper Caleb McCaleb, whose work, among others’, in The Falls addition at NE 150 and Post Road will soak up the spotlight the rest of the month during the Streets of Dreams luxury home tour.
Gates open for the Streets of Dreams at 10 a.m. Saturday. The event goes through Oct. 28. Builders are McCaleb Homes, Adams Kirby Homes, Integrity Fine Homes, MassaRossa Luxury Homes, Matteson Custom Homes, Ripple Creek Homes, Tim Hughes Custom Homes, and Gibbs & Hancock Luxury Estates.
Tickets are $20 in advance at www.streetofdreamsok.com, or at Harry’s TV, Video and Appliance, 11110 N Pennsylvania Ave. Tickets are $25 at the gate. Children 12 and under admitted free.
The Children’s Hospital Foundation will get 20 percent of the proceeds. Sponsors are Pella Windows & Doors of Oklahoma and Harry’s TV, Video and Appliance.
“The thing is you make hay when the sun is shining. That’s what we learned here over this summer. When it’s out there and you can do it, you go out and dig and if you have to cover your concrete with Visqueen (plastic vapor barrier), you do it,” McCaleb said.
Homebuilding would be improved if the energy business were in better shape, said Rusty Appleton, executive director of Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, which organized the Street of Dreams.
“Our economy’s more diversified than it’s ever been in the history of our city, which is good for us, and good for homebuilders. But the fact of the matter is we still go as oil and gas goes,” Appleton said.
Appleton said the slower energy business mainly affects the middle price ranges, the top and entry level less so.
“The less-executivelevel positions, they’ll make those investments in housing first,” he said. “The executives will insulate themselves — they’ll be slower to respond to market fluctuations, let’s say it that way.
“So what you’ll see is some of our more entrylevel housing is booming right now, while (at) the $400,000-to-$500,000 range, some of those builders are still experiencing slower (activity) than what they would prefer. But if oil and gas stays where it is, they’ll come out of that, as well.”