Claremore Home & Garden Show 2023

2022 was the first year that single-family housing starts dropped in 11 years, dipping to an estimated 12% to 999,000 units. The NAHB estimates single-family house production will fall to 744,000 units this year before rebounding to a 925,000 annual pace in 2024.

Founded in 1942, the HBA of Greater Tulsa currently has roughly 1,000 members. About one-third of them are home builders and/or remodelers. The remaining members are associates working in closely related fields such as mortgage finance and building products and services.

“With the higher interest rates, we do expect there to be a slight slowdown in market activity, at least in the first half (of 2023),” said Smith, who used to be a residential builder at CedarRock Homes. “That is seen in the January housing starts, which were 143, which is down from previous years. We believe that is just temporary and by summertime or the third quarter, that will return to normal.

“People are still spending more time in their home. So they are either doing renovation projects or they realize maybe they don’t like the home they are in and it’s time to go buy something else or build something else since they are working, living, playing all inside their home.”

New housing activity is scattered across the area. Some of the most prominent pockets are at Hyde Park at Tulsa Hills, a 55-and-older community, Stone Canyon, in Rogers County just east of Owasso, and at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, Smith said.

“The midlevel price range seems to be the strongest right now,” he said. “That is the $375,000 to $525,000. With some of the starter homes, productivity has slowed down because of the interest rates.

“On the higher end, it’s just kind of slow and steady.”

This year's Claremore Home & Garden Show brought almost 3,000 people to the Claremore Expo center March 24 & 25. It was a beautiful weekend in Rogers County where almost 100 vendors came together for the two day event. The Rogers County Master Gardeners did a fanstatic job setting up entry gardens inside the center. This free show was flowing with people all day Friday and Saturday.

The Claremore Home & Garden Show was made possible by sponsors and volunteers. Presenting sponsor Vickrey Heat & Air, major sponsor, Marble Elegance, Inc., promotional sponsors, Apex Title & Closing Services and BancFirst and supporting sponsors Innovative Awnings & Screens and Mosquito Shield of Broken Arrow. Volunteers included Alan Cook, Ryan Eaton, Sheri Andreo, Patty Brannock, Cheri Peters and Tammy Pratt. Thank you for giving of your time in volunteering.