Oklahoma City makes list of 10 best cities for real estate development

Steady economic and population growth has helped cement Oklahoma City as one of the top spots for real estate development.

Oklahoma City ranks No. 10 in a  that found the southern U.S. has led the booming real estate development over the past decade:

• Single-family home construction has exploded across the city with more than 33,000 building permits issued in the past 10 years.
• About 16 million square feet of new industrial space, about 4 million square feet of retail space and 1.3 million square feet of storage space were added over the same period.

Eric Long, research economist with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said “population follows jobs.”

“Over the past decade, the Oklahoma City (Metropolitan Statistical Area) added more than 170,000 people,” Long said. “And, the city of Oklahoma City itself was one of only 14 cities in the United States to add over 100,000 people [from 2010-2020]. This population growth bolstered residential housing and multi-family development in the region.”

He also said OKC has benefitted from reshoring efforts associated with manufacturing. OKC’s proximity to Interstates 35 and 40 has also led to “exponential warehouse and distribution growth.” Long points to Hobby Lobby and Amazon as examples of that growth.

The greater OKC region as a whole has benefited from the positive string of economic development. In 2022, the Chamber’s economic development team worked on more than 100 projects that created nearly 5,500 jobs, $262 million in payroll and $843 million in capital investment.