Jul. 26--Housing made forward progress with a shotgun approach for years, but it's become a ground game in Oklahoma City, with buyers and sellers staring one another down across a line of scrimmage called a contract.

Buyers are hitting low and sellers are digging in, but sales are still being completed -- usually at lower prices than sellers ask for, but substantially higher than buyers start out offering.

Housing is in a slump nationally and has slowed in Oklahoma.

But slowdown doesn't equal markdown in average price. It's up here, again, according to the Oklahoma Metro Association of Realtors: $164,727 in June, 6 percent higher than in June 2007.

Some buyers don't get it, Realtors said.

"They offer silly amounts of money," said Jim McWhirter, who owns Gemini Builders and Gemini Realtors in Choctaw.

McWhirter, president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, said he doesn't always take such insults in stride.

One buyer "offered me $50,000 less than what we were asking. I countered back with $5,000 more than I was asking," he said. "Would I advise a client to do that? Probably not."

People wonder how demand for housing can be down, which is clear from the slowdown in sales -- off almost 20 percent here last month compared with a year ago -- and prices still rise.

When demand goes down, prices go down, and when demand goes up, prices go up -- aren't those axioms the bedrocks of the economy?

Only when the goods demanded are uniform, economists explain, and houses are not uniform.

For example, upscale homes here are selling much slower than they did during the boom years, partly because a higher percentage of down payment required since credit underwriting has tightened.

Across all price levels, the housing supply in the metro area now stands at 6.8 months, according to The Oklahoman's calculations, using figures from the Realtors.

Less expensive homes sell much faster. McWhirter said houses under $100,000 sell within 30 days.

Plus, prices drop when booms go bust, but not always when booms simply play out, said Mark Snead, director of Oklahoma State University's Center for Applied Economist Research.

"We have an orderly market. Our builders didn't overbuild. They haven't overcorrected," Snead said.

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Story Source: The Daily Oklahoman