By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
New home sales have not hit a slump in Canadian County, despite the economic downturn in the current COVID-19 pandemic, a Yukon realtor said.
No downturn in business has been seen yet at least, said Frank Greer, who has been selling homes in the Yukon area for 35 years. He has seen just the opposite in the past two months, he said.
People may be getting restless during their current shelter at home situations, and as the weather warms, sales are expected to pick up even more, Greer said.
New home construction has shown a slight increase in Yukon, despite the pandemic. The uptick in home building is a seasonal occurrence, Greer said. As weather warms construction increases.
As for sales of both new and used homes locally, Greer said he has been busy with both. He recently showed a new home in the Northwood Village addition built by Vesta Homes, at 12721 NW 137. The house is in the Piedmont Schools district.
Greer is one of nine realtors with the Frank Greer Realty Team in Yukon.
“People are buying houses, and really the pandemic never slowed it down that much for housing, it just really hasn’t,” Greer said.
He said homes valued between $100,000 and $170,000 are selling within a few days of being on the market. The more expensive homes are not selling as fast but are also selling steadily.
New and previously-owned homes are selling at about the same rate locally, he said.
Greer said he was busy at open houses over the weekend.
“We just had a lot of traffic. People are out looking. People want to be out so they are going out and looking at houses. They may not all be buyers but they are out looking,” Greer said. “I anticipate when this is really over, (pandemic) there are pent up emotions, and buying will even get stronger.”
Mortgage rates have dropped and home values have gone up recently, two factors also contributing to the increase, Greer said.
Greer is a former Yukon mayor who served in the 1970s and watched Canadian County grow in the last part of the century.
In the 1990s, Greer served on Gov. Frank Keating’s economic development team, studying what was projected as “the Interstate 40 corridor growth. Development moved from Oklahoma City westward along I-40. Greer expects it will continue into the coming decades.
For this year, the pandemic could lead to more people wanting more distance between their neighbors.
Some new homes built in housing additions are not 6 feet apart, they are build 5 feet apart, Greer said. People are also looking for acreages to custom build new homes on, Greer said.
Inside the house he has listed in Northwood Village, near Piedmont Road and Northwest Expressway, he showed off the ceramic tile floors. The three bedrooms had carpet. He said the addition has a swimming pool in it. That comes with homeowners’ association dues of about $400 a year. The addition has a clubhouse. The 1768 square foot house was going for $227,000, near Northwood Elementary School on Northwest Expressway .
He said the Canadian County school districts continue to attract people to new homes.
“Piedmont, Mustang, Yukon all have great school districts. We are probably seeing more of the bigger houses toward the Mustang and Yukon areas and the acreage homes in Piedmont and actually out toward Kingfisher, “Greer said.
Growth continues in Canadian County, Greer said.
“Kingfisher and Okarche are all right for development, and the land cost for the developers are not quite as high in those areas,” Greer said. He said some of the highest land values in the county currently are in the Mustang area.
