Moore is a top 10 market for first-time home buyers. Is post-tornado development a cause?
Neighborhoods in Moore are in a national spotlight again, and for once it's not because of a huge storm — although rebuilding from past disasters could have something to do with the new attention.
Realtor.com reports the Oklahoma City suburb is one of the top housing markets in the country for first-time homebuyers. Based on numerous criteria, and a cap of one city per metropolitan area "to allow for a greater diversity of options," Realtor.com ranks Moore as the No. 8 market for first-timers in 2024.
"It says a lot for our community. We work hard to make it a good place to live. We're a great little community," said Melissa Hunt, Ward 2 Moore City Council member.
"Little" is relative.
With a population of 62,793 at the 2020 census, Moore is the seventh-largest city in Oklahoma. And the growth in national chain stores along Interstate 35 the past two decades has made it one of the strongest retail markets in the metro area, according to OKC's Price Edwards & Co..
Retail follows rooftops. In other words, stores locate where people live. Could the nature of those rooftops make Moore more inviting to first-time homebuyers?
Moore, Oklahoma, has selling points for homebuyers, not just first-timers, Realtor says
Moore has good selling points for young homebuyers and former renters, said Monty Strickland, a Realtor and broker/partner at Realty Experts Inc. in Moore.
“Moore and south Oklahoma City are great for people looking for their first home,” he said. “People looking for their first property can find a variety of sizes and price ranges, and it’s convenient to get to downtown, to Norman and even to the Tinker Air Force Base area.”
"Moore/south Oklahoma City" usually come in the same breath because of the Moore school district, which falls across south OKC. The city of Moore is only about 23 square miles, Strickland said, and the school district is nearly 160 square miles.
Across the area, he said, homes are worth anywhere from less than $100,000 to more than $3 million. The key for attracting first-time buyers is on the lower end. And that's where the storms and tornadoes come in.
Tornado-ravaged neighborhoods in Moore, Oklahoma, get rebuilt for the market
Whenever a tornado strikes Moore — and by now, after 10 strikes in 25 years, including deadly record breakers in 1999 and 2013, it does seem to be a question of when, not if — some homeowners build back on their tornado-swept lots.
After the EF5 tornado of May 3, 1999, many builders started adding anchor bolts to better secure exterior walls to foundations, hurricane clips to better secure roofs to walls, heavy-gauge garage doors, and other "hidden extras" to improve wind resistance. After the 2013 tornado, the city of Moore enacted stricter building codes requiring extra measures to make homes safer.
After a disaster, rebuilding usually means speculative homes, although they get snatched up quickly, and that means starter homes. Plus, Strickland said, house sizes are limited by older, smaller lot sizes.
In Moore, "There are a lot of smaller homes," Strickland said.
Realtor.com's criteria for its top 10 markets for first-time homebuyers for 2024
Realtor.com ranked 2,738 cities and places with a population of more than 5,000 located within the 100 largest metro areas. The rankings were based on the following criteria:
The share of 25- to 34-year-old homeowner households among all households.
The availability of homes for sale, measured by active listings per 1,000 existing households in the past 12 months, to ensure that homebuyers have a good amount of choice in their search.
A measure of affordability, estimated by the ratio of listing prices to gross household incomes of 25- to 34-year-olds in that city for the past 12 months.
A measure of job opportunities, estimated by the forecast unemployment rate of the city’s surrounding metro area.
The average commute time to work.
A measure of the culture and liveliness of an area, estimated by the count of restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping establishments, and other lifestyle businesses such as theaters, comedy clubs, and arts classes as listed on Yelp in November 2023.
Forecast metro-area home sales and home price growth in 2024, as new buyers may want to ensure they locate to a healthy market, which will support equity growth and an easy transition when they have outgrown their home.
Top 10 Markets for first-time homebuyers for 2024, according to Realtor.com
Realtor.com’s Top 10 Markets for First-Time Home Buyers for 2024 are:
Irondequoit, New York
Benton, Arkansas
Winterset, Iowa
Newington, Connecticut
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Cheektowaga, New York
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Moore, Oklahoma
Mattydale, New York
Riviera Beach, Maryland
Sign Up:Weekly newsletter Real Estate with Richard Mize
Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Moore a top 10 market first-time homebuyers: are tornadoes a cause?
