Oklahoma City Real Estate Investment

Companies That Call Oklahoma City Home

Among some of the big-name companies that call Oklahoma City home and employ thousands, are:

• BancFirst
• Chesapeake Energy
• Continental Resources
• Devon Energy
• Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores
• Paycom
• OGE Energy

Oil, Energy, Aviation

Oklahoma City, while traditionally a livestock town with some $2.5 billion in annual farming revenue, has a growing and active hand in the oil and energy sector. With two Fortune 500 energy companies headquartered in the city as well as some of the largest energy companies in the state, oil, gas, and wind energy make up nearly one-quarter of the industry in Oklahoma.

Additionally, Oklahoma City employs nearly 40,000 people in the aviation and aerospace industries thanks to a high concentration of related firms, including the United States Air Force Tinker Air Force Base and Boeing.

At the turn of the 21st century, Oklahoma City began to truly diversify its economy, which led to a 33 percent increase in economic output—leading to a gross metropolitan product of $73.8 billion in 2016. Though oil, energy, and aviation continue to play a significant role in the Oklahoma City economy, the diversification efforts have continued to hedge against further risk in case of economic downturn.

Optimism in Market Diversity

On the whole, the city has a fairly diverse economy with its strengths in the energy sector, information technology, healthcare, government services, and administration. Building that diversity is key to reducing market risk. If there is a downturn in one sector, the other industries are able to support and maintain it. The efforts that began at the turn of the century to diversify Oklahoma City’s economy can be seen in their economic output growth. In between 2001 and 2005, the metropolitan area saw their output grow by 33 percent and has been on the rise ever since: $43.1 billion in 2005, $61.1 billion in 2009, and $73.8 billion in 2016.

What also brings optimism to this market is looking at their unemployment rates. With an unemployment rate tracking beneath the national average (almost a full point behind at the end of 2018, with OKC’s unemployment rate at 2.8 percent compared to the United States unemployment rate of 3.7 percent), Oklahoma City has positioned itself as a dark horse market for both business and real estate endeavors.

This economic health combined with affordability has created an ideal environment for real estate investing. With demand growing for rentals by several thousand, there is room for growth in profit margins and investor involvement in the market.

History & Tourism

The tourism industry in Oklahoma City is strong enough to employ over 30,000 residents in the area. With over 7 million estimated annual visitors, the economic impact of these tourists back in 2015 was $2.5 billion and has been rising since. The rich Native American history of this area, among other things, helps draw visitors in. Throw in a variety of museums, art galleries, and lots of family friendly attractions and you’ve got a healthy site for tourism!