Oklahoma City metro home sales dropped 8% year over year in October, even as the typical home value barely moved and stayed about $122,000 below the national figure. The slowdown arrived as mortgage rates climbed above 7%, adding pressure on buyers even in one of the country's more affordable housing markets.
The typical Oklahoma City metro home was valued at $242,444 in October, according to Zillow's October market report as detailed by The Journal Record. That figure slipped 0.5% from September but still edged up 0.4% from a year earlier. Housing inventory in the metro rose 3.2% from October 2025, giving buyers somewhat more to choose from even as fewer deals closed.
Zillow pointed to rising borrowing costs as the likely driver behind the local sales slowdown, per the same report. Freddie Mac data cited in the report shows mortgage rates averaged 7.33% in October, up from 6.86% in September — a jump that added to affordability pressure for buyers.
How OKC Stacks Up Nationally
Oklahoma City's home values ranked third-lowest among the 50 metros tracked in Zillow's report, sitting roughly $122,000 below the national typical home value of $364,812. Rent in the metro told a similar story: the typical Oklahoma City rent was $1,370 in October, up 2.5% year over year, ranking second-lowest among those same 50 metros.
Nationally, rents climbed even faster, rising 2.9% year over year — the strongest annual gain in 19 months, according to Zillow MediaRoom. The contrast underscores just how much breathing room Oklahoma City renters and buyers still have compared with pricier coastal and Sun Belt metros.
A Broader National Pullback
Oklahoma City's dip is part of a steeper nationwide retreat. Newly pending U.S. listings fell 16.8% year over year in October, the biggest annual drop since August 2023, the release notes. Zillow's preliminary measure found existing home sales down 8.7% nationally for the month — a decline roughly in line with what Oklahoma City experienced locally.
The squeeze on affordability is showing up in monthly payments, too. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home reached $2,004 in October, assuming a 20% down payment and excluding taxes and insurance — a 12.8% jump from a year earlier, per the same release. Zillow chief economist Mischa Fisher struck a cautiously hopeful note about what comes next, saying “November is shaping up to have an even larger contraction, but the silver lining is that next month is likely going to be the worst of it.”
Not Every Month Looked This Rough
Oklahoma City had actually been outperforming the national market just one month earlier. In September, local home sales declined nearly 3%, compared with a 6% national decline, per an earlier Journal Record report on the metro's housing market. That same month, Oklahoma City's typical sale price reached $270,000, up $5,000, or 1.9%, from a year earlier, while homes available for sale rose 4.4% year over year to 7,091 units.
Homes were also moving at a steady clip heading into fall: the typical Oklahoma City property spent 59 days on the market in September, two days longer than the year before but still faster than the national average of 61 days. A forecast tied to that September report projected prices would ease through the end of 2026 before returning to modest growth in 2027.
Other Markets Feeling the Pinch
Oklahoma City isn't alone in absorbing the rate-driven chill. In Las Vegas, Realtors reported October home sales down 11.9% year over year, with condo and townhome sales plunging 23.6%, according to FOX5 Vegas. The steeper declines there suggest Oklahoma City's relative affordability may be cushioning some of the national slowdown's worst effects, even as local sales numbers still moved in the wrong direction for the month.
