A lot of good news coming out this week! First off we want to congratulate Fred Fitch for winning the mayoral office! We are all excited, ready, and grateful for Mr. Fitch to take over that office March 1st. As always, if there is anything we can do to help we are here!
Last week the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce announced that the Comanche County jobless rate is less than the State of Oklahoma and the nation.
According to the most recent Oklahoma Employment Report provided by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, Comanche County has a 5.8% unemployment rate for the month of October which is 1.3% lower than the state and 4.4% lower than the national unemployment rate.
“Lawton has weathered the national economic downturn far better than much of the U.S. and many areas within the State of Oklahoma,” cited Dana Davis, Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce President and CEO.
Comanche County’s unemployment rate raised a slight 0.6 percent over September. A year ago, Comanche County’s unemployment was 4.2 percent. Of the 46,370 available labor force in Comanche County, 43,660 are employed leaving 2710 jobless.
Lawton has a strong manufacturing sector which has avoided layoffs. Strategic investment in product diversification by many of our manufacturers has allowed them to maintain market share and employment levels.
Lawton also has a strong military structure. Base Realignment and Closure movements to Fort Sill represent a significant investment by the Department of the Army (DA) in the Lawton Fort Sill Community. DA announced that by the year 2020 they will have invested $4.4 billion to upgrade facilities at Fort Sill.
“Lawton is poised to gain thousands of new citizens by 2011. The community, the Chamber and other organizations are involved in downtown redevelopment and beautification along with the development of a 480-acre business park and I am excited to be a part of it”, said Ed Cole, Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Economic Development.
The Lawton Fort Sill real estate market is still hanging strong with less than 5.6 months of inventory and an average closed sales price for the last six months of $131,174. The days on market average is awesome at 92! We have noticed that inventory is dropping which is usually a trend we see this time of year, which we feel is why now may be the best time to put your home on the market if you are thinking about selling. Less competition will give you more exposure which will bring you more money and a quicker sell. Let us know if you would like a more detailed market snapshot for your home!
The goal of the Market Snapshot workbooks is to educate you on our current market conditions and should help all the bankers see where the good and soft markets are as well as help the builders get a solid look at what is going on and make their business plans as educated as possible.
If you know of anyone that would benefit from this snapshot please let me know and I will add them to the mailing list. Remember that this information is obtained from Paragon MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
If there is anything we can do to help, please do not hesitate to give us a call!
P.S. Don't forget that United Country Lawton Real Estate Group is connecting buyers and sellers and adding value others can't. We are the market experts!