Oklahoma City home sales end 2011 with a bang, not a bust

Realtors handled sales of 1,283 homes in December, an increase of 18.2 percent compared with December 2010, according to the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors.

The average loan rate was 4.2 percent, which was 8.7 percent lower than the December before. Houses sold a full week faster, lingering on the market for 89 days on average.

Adjusted statistics for all of 2011 were not yet available from the Realtors, but from July forward, monthly sales came in above 2010 monthly tallies from 18 to 35 percent.

For the year, sales were up 7.5 percent, with 1,093 more houses sold in 2011 than in 2010, for a total of 15,618 transactions.

The year ended with a relatively healthy 5.7-month supply of houses listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, using the average monthly sales for the past year, 1,301.5, as a sales pace.

Using average monthly sales for just the past six months, 1,366.3, the estimated inventory of houses for sale at the end of 2011 would last 5.4 months if no more came on the market.