Real Estate Directory - Oklahoma

Population: 3,511,532 (2003 figures)
Capital city/population: Oklahoma City 523,303
Largest cities/population:

  • Oklahoma City - 523,303
  • Tulsa - 387,80
  • Norman - 99,197
  • Lawton - 91,730

Oklahoma is the 20th largest state, with a total area of 69,903 square miles. Most of the state has a warm, dry climate, with the southeast portion having a more humid climate. Average annual temperature ranges from 57ºF - 63ºF. Rainfall varies from 26” – 43”. The state was opened to settlers in a land rush in 1889. On a specific date, these settlers would be allowed into the territory to claim plots of land by grabbing the stakes marking each plot. Settlers who arrived to claim land before the official start were known as “sooners.” Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.

HOUSING

Oklahoma City – The market of homes priced between $130,000 - $180,000 is growing, due to inventory and condition of these homes. Many single-family homes can still be purchased for less than $80,000, but the trend is to buy these homes for rental properties. Median home price is $116,900. Also increasing in popularity are homes priced from $150,000 up to $1 million. Anticipated growth for the city in 2006 is 6%.

Tulsa – Fortune magazine recently ranked Tulsa #22 out of the top 100 real estate markets in the nation. Median home price is $116,600. Agents report that renters are looking to buy homes, especially in the $50,000 - $100,000 price range. During the past years, the Tulsa market has been stable, and is now in a position to gain strength as other cities’ markets fall.

Norman – The town’s market is shifting from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market, with existing home sales falling compared to new home sales, which are on the rise. Single-family home prices range from $50,000 up to $1,000,000. There are also a great amount of investment properties to choose from, including duplexes, apartments, and condominiums.

Lawton – Average home prices are approximately $88,802, with owner-occupied homes accounting for over 50% of the total. Rental units are renting for an average of $346.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Principal industries include manufacturing, mineral/energy production, agriculture, and services. Manufactured goods include non-electrical machinery, transportation equipment, food products, and fabricated metal products. Crops include wheat, cotton, hay, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, corn, and pecans. Total gross state product for 1999 was $86 billion, with a per capita income for 2000 of $23,517.

SCHOOLS

Oklahoma has developed the ACE Task Force (Achieving Classroom Excellence) to study the needs of students in grades 8 – 12, and develop recommendations tailored for these students’ needs. The ACE Task Force has developed recommendations for:

  1. Additional end-of-instruction tests to be developed
  2. Benchmarks and cut scores for assessments
  3. Optional methods to demonstrate subject matter mastery
  4. Alternatives for English language learners and special needs students
  5. Exceptions that may be needed
  6. Intervention strategies
  7. Remediation options
  8. Consequences for students
  9. Review of other states' experiences
  10. Development of an action plan to implement recommendations
  11. Information to provide to teachers, parents and students, that will emphasize this initiative as a tool to improve student success; and
  12. Funding necessary to implement recommendations

In the public sector, student-teacher ratio for 1994 was 15:5, with an average teachers’ salary for 1995 of $28,909.

Institutions of higher education include the University of Oklahoma - Norman, with a health sciences center at Oklahoma City; Oklahoma State University -Stillwater, with a branch at Oklahoma City; and Central State University - Edmond. Other universities include the University of Tulsa; Oklahoma City University; Southern Nazarene University - Bethany; and Oklahoma Baptist University - Shawnee.

HISTORY

Oklahoma has the nation’s largest Native American population – 252,420 as of the 1990 census. Native cultures existed in the area far before Europeans visited in 1541.
After the War of 1812, settlers competed with Cherokee and Georgia tribes for the land. Cherokee, in particular, continued their highly developed culture, farming the area for many years. During the Civil War, many Native Americans allied themselves with the Confederacy, causing unrest and violent activity with their Union-supporting neighbors. As punishment for this support, five tribes lost the western part of the Indian Territory, and the government awarded this land to other tribes. This western portion became the Oklahoma Territory in 1890.

World War I brought an increased demand for farm products, leading to a strong agricultural boom. Drought in the 1920s burned the wheat in the fields, and unwise farming practices such as overplanting and overgrazing created the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The demand for food in World War II encouraged careful crop selection and land conservation, returning the land to a productive state.

The state experienced a boom during the 1970s when oil prices rose; however, in the 1980s, the trend reversed itself, as oil prices fell rapidly, leading the oil-dependent economy into a recession.

RELIGION

  • Christian – 85%
    • Protestant – 77%
      • Baptist (mostly Southern) – 32%
      • Methodist – 12%
      • Churches of Christ – 4%
      • Pentecostal – 4%
      • Presbyterian – 3%
      • Assemblies of God – 3%
      • Other Protestant – 19%
    • Roman Catholic – 7%
    • Other Christian – 1%
  • Other Religions – 1%
  • Non-Religious – 14%

DEMOGRAPHICS (2000)

  • White - 76.2%
  • Native American - 7.9%
  • Black - 7.6%
  • Asian - 1.4%
  • Other - 2.5%
  • Mixed race - 4.4%