Tulsa Housing Market Update: October 19, 2026
TULSA, OK, October 19, 2026 — Mortgage rates held at 7.40%, so builder rate offers remain a serious rival to resales near the $254,950 three-bedroom median.
Resale Market
What the numbers show: These figures come from a national listing portal via FRED. They cover all home types and sizes, they're asking-price data, and they're monthly. There's no reliable weekly Tulsa series.
| Tulsa metro, all types | Aug 2026 | Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median asking price | $334,995 | $329,500 | -1.64% |
| Active listings | 3,355 | 3,462 | +3.19% |
| New listings | 1,300 | 1,188 | -8.62% |
| Pending listings | 1,491 | 1,403 | -5.90% |
| Price-cut listings | 1,400 | 1,546 | +10.43% |
| Median days on market | 56 | 60 | +7.14% |
Year over year, active listings rose 3.87% and the median asking price rose 1.83%. Listings with price cuts reached 44.7% of active listings, up from 41.7%. The pending-to-active ratio slipped to 0.41 from 0.44.
The Greater Tulsa association's monthly market report (Tulsa County, all residential types) shows 722 September closings, down 1.37% year over year, at a $289,000 median sale price, up 3.55%. Sale-to-list fell to 98.95% from 99.50% in August, and supply was 3.42 months.
Three-bedroom homes (any bath count) logged 380 closings at a $254,950 median, with a median 21 days to sale.
What it means: This looks like a normal seasonal slowdown with sellers getting more flexible, not broad price deterioration. Closed prices are still up year over year.
Sources: FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · FRED (St. Louis Fed) · mlstechnology.com
New-Build Competition
What the numbers show: We couldn't find a reliable closed-sale price or a clean count of completed homes for Tulsa-area new construction. Portal counts include proposed and to-be-built listings.
D.R. Horton's Brook Chase in Broken Arrow lists homes from $265,000, with 8 available at $281,900 to $344,015 (current asking price—not a closed-sale figure). A move-in-ready 4-bed, 2-bath home in its Cedars at the Preserve community was cut to $288,000 from $293,900, a 2.01% reduction.
What it means: Entry-level new homes are asking about what typical county resales close for.
Sources: drhorton.com · drhorton.com
Verified Builder Incentives
Observed on the report date on D.R. Horton's official pages.
| Offer | Terms | Deadline | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special rate, select Oklahoma communities | 5.50% (6.212% APR), FHA 30-Year fixed; 3.5% down | Must close by 11/30/2026 | Must use DHIM; may not combine |
| Flex cash, Tulsa Division | Up to $20,000 for closing costs, options, upgrades | Buy Oct 9 - Nov 1, 2026; close on or before 12/1/2026 | Any lender; in lieu of other promotions |
Credit score, points, fees and conventional terms: Not publicly disclosed—verification required.
The special rate is a 30-year fixed rate, so it looks permanent rather than a temporary buydown, but FHA adds mortgage insurance.
Sources: drhorton.com
Builder-Versus-Resale Payment Comparison
Payment-equivalent price is not the builder home’s contract price, appraised value, taxable value, or buyer equity.
Assumptions: conventional loan, 5% down, 30-year fixed, principal and interest only, a $300,000 new build, and the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average of 7.40% (October 15, 2026) for the resale. The table is illustrative: the builder rates are scenarios, not current offers.
| Builder rate | Monthly P&I | Equal-payment resale price | Difference | Effective gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.99% | $1,528 | $232,334 | $67,666 | 22.6% |
| 5.49% | $1,616 | $245,744 | $54,256 | 18.1% |
| 5.99% | $1,707 | $259,500 | $40,500 | 13.5% |
| 7.40% (market) | $1,973 | $300,000 | $0 | 0.0% |
The 15% thesis, tested this week: a $255,000 resale at 7.40% costs $1,677 a month in principal and interest. A $300,000 new build reaches that payment only at a permanent rate of about 5.83%, roughly 1.57 percentage points under the market rate. The deepest scenario above (4.99%) is worth 22.6% of the price, above the 15% gap between $300,000 and $255,000.
Loan amount in every row: $285,000 (95% of $300,000).
- The D.R. Horton rate is an FHA rate, so these conventional scenarios are illustrative, not a current offer.
- A lower resale price usually means lower property taxes and less mortgage insurance.
- Insurance, HOA dues and special assessments vary by property.
- Closing-cost credits don't lower monthly principal and interest.
- Any builder promotion needs a written loan estimate before it's counted.
Sources: Freddie Mac
Delist and Relist Tracker
Public portals do not provide exhaustive or fully consistent market-wide tracking. A dependable aggregate count requires a direct listing-service feed. We couldn't verify a qualifying example (detached, three bedrooms, two or more baths) this week, so the baseline stays at zero.
Rental and Investor Conditions
What the numbers show: Apartment List puts Tulsa's October median asking rent at $1,084, up 0.5% in September and 2.9% over 12 months. The figure covers all unit types and only asking rents, not signed leases. We couldn't verify rents for three-bedroom houses.
What it means: Rent growth is modest, and it won't offset 7.40% financing on its own.
Sources: apartmentlist.com
Financing Conditions
What the numbers show: Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average held at 7.40% on October 15, unchanged from the prior week and up from 6.27% a year ago. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.10% from 5.24% on October 9. We couldn't find reliable Oklahoma DSCR, bridge or private-money rate data.
What it means: Lower Treasury yields could ease mortgage rates, but that's an inference, not a forecast.
Sources: Freddie Mac · FRED (St. Louis Fed)
Market-Level Distress Signals
What the numbers show: ATTOM's July report shows Tulsa foreclosure starts fell to 41 from 138 a year earlier, while national starts rose 10 percent. The sheriff's auction list updates weekly and drops recalled sales, so it can't show a trend.
What it means: The evidence points to stable distress with isolated opportunities. More price cuts and longer market time look like ordinary negotiation.
Sources: prnewswire.com · Tulsa County Sheriff's Office
Regulatory and Tax Developments
- Pending ballot question: State Question 847 (Nov. 3 ballot) would cut the annual cap on valuation growth for homesteads from 3% to 1.75%. For other property, including rentals, the cap would drop from 5% to 4%. The change would start in the 2027 tax year.
- It caps valuations, not tax rates, so any savings shouldn't be counted on unless it passes.
- We found no newly enacted City of Tulsa zoning, permit or rental rule this week.
Sources: kgou.org
Ranked Actionable Implications
- Sellers: schedule a price review once a three-bedroom listing passes 21 days without an offer. That's September's county median time to sale, and listings with price cuts rose 10.43% in a month.
- Buyers: get a written loan estimate before comparing any builder rate with a resale. D.R. Horton's 5.50% FHA rate requires its own lender and closing by 11/30/2026.
- Investors: assume rent growth no faster than the 2.9% annual pace in the latest rent report, since 7.40% mortgage rates leave little room for optimistic assumptions.
Market information is general, based on publicly available asking-price and listing data, and is not a property-specific valuation or guarantee.
About Top Dollar Home Offer
Top Dollar Home Offer is a family-owned real estate investment company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The father-and-son team of Bucky and Cove Cordray buys houses directly from their owners in as-is condition across Tulsa County and the surrounding communities, including inherited, vacant, tax-delinquent and pre-foreclosure properties, and publishes guides for homeowners facing those situations at TopDollarHomeOffer.com.
Media contact
Bucky Cordray, Founder
Top Dollar Home Offer
1831 E 71st St #4244, Tulsa, OK 74136
(918) 212-5442 · TopDollarHomeOffer.com · [email protected]
