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Tulsa, OK – The Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa announced today that housing starts in metro Tulsa continued to heat up in July to 292, an 18.2 percent increase over the prior month. The July figure is the highest number of starts in one month since May of 2008 and 18.7 percent higher than starts reported in July of 2008.
As construction activity increase, the gap continues to narrow between 2008 and 2009. With 1,481 permits issued year-to-date, 2009 starts are now tracking just 19.1 percent behind 2008 totals for the same period, according to figures released by permit-tracking service New Orders Weekly. The improving numbers locally are consistent with national trends, which have shown an increase in housing starts for the past four months as the housing market shows signs of recovery.
Cities with the highest number of housing starts in July include: Broken Arrow, with 49 starts and a year-to-date total of 234; Tulsa, with 42 starts adding to a year-to-date total of 224; and Owasso, Jenks and Bixby following closely behind with 28, 27 and 26 starts for the month, respectively.
"Offering competitive prices, appreciating home values, and market stability, Tulsa continues to be one of the bright spots in the national home building industry," said Brandon Perkins, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa and a local developer. "It is a great time to consider building a new home, and with the first-time home buyer tax credit in effect through November 31 of this year, there is still plenty of time for people to realize their dreams of homeownership."
Local housing start figures reflect permit information for the entire Tulsa metro area, which includes Bartlesville, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Catoosa, Collinsville, Claremore, Coweta, Glenpool, Inola, Jenks, Kiefer, Miami, Muskogee, Owasso, Okmulgee, Pryor, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Skiatook, Tulsa, Verdigris, and Wagoner along with Tulsa, Rogers, Osage and Wagoner Counties.