The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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March 28, 2011

Experts: Enid’s real estate market stable

By Joe Malan, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — The departure of Continental Resources from Enid will not harm the area real estate market, two real estate agents say.

Molly and Jimmy Nicholas, of ERA Nicholas Real Estate, said recently they have heard a lot of uproar over the possibility of Enid’s real estate market being hit by Continental Resources’ decision to move to Oklahoma City by the end of next year.

Those fears are unfounded, they say.

Jimmy Nicholas, broker for ERA Nicholas Real Estate, says residents should keep in mind 100 or more houses won’t be dumped immediately on the market.

“They’re just going to trickle them out as they need the people,” he said. “A lot of people we’ve talked to have said, ‘Well, they’re planning on moving us by a year from April.’ It’s going to be just a nice, slow thing that our market should be able to totally absorb and it may not even be an event to the real estate market.”

Some people may choose to keep their houses in Enid and rent them out, while some people may decide to stay in Enid, he said. In other words, exactly how many homes Enid residents will sell as a result of the move is unknown.

Molly Nicholas, sales associate for ERA Nicholas Real Estate, said Enid’s market is relatively stable, and that stability will help Enid absorb homes vacated by Continental’s employees.

“We feel like we have some room for the market to absorb them,” she said. “Not to mention that we are seeing growth and activity. We are seeing referrals all the time.”

In real estate, there is a supply and demand measurement called the absorption rate. The absorption rate is the number of months projected to deplete the existing inventory of homes based on current monthly sales. The number changes as homes are added to the market.

In the last four years, the absorption rate has fluctuated between 4.02 months and 5.60 months, which indicates a balanced real estate market. An absorption rate under 5 months is generally called a seller’s market, and one above 6 months is termed a buyer’s market.

“Enid has not been dealing in the crazy market that everyone has been dealing with and what you’re hearing about on the national news,” Molly Nicholas said. “Ours has remained stable in our own little real estate (area).”

Brian Engel, spokesman for Continental Resources, said he could not give specific information on exactly when the company would be moving employees or how many phases there would be to moving people to Oklahoma City.

“We will have more information as we go forward, but it’s too early to offer any specifics of the timing of moves other than the majority will occur in the second half of 2012,” Engel said.

Engel said it is the intention of Continental to make this time a “very smooth transition” for everyone, including the real estate market.

Right now, Engel said, the company is holding a series of meetings to orient the employees about the changes.

Late last week, Molly and Jimmy Nicholas gave a presentation to employees detailing market trends, preparing to sell a home and financing a new home.

Jimmy Nicholas said interest rates are below 5 percent and home prices are high. Molly Nicholas said an influx of higher-priced homes could help boost interest and thus sales in that market.

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