Close to home: Oklahoma City's home sales are holding up

— -- Although the economic downturn has put a crimp in home sales nationwide, the housing market in Oklahoma City is still sailing along.

"I've heard a lot of people talking about the stock market and the economy," says Marolyn Pryor, president of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors. "But right now, they don't seem to be that upset." In September, Oklahoma City's home sales were up from a year earlier. And so far this month, "We're doing fine, and people are still buying homes and moving up," Pryor says. The only area that has slowed down a bit is the sale of high-end homes, she says.

Home prices are down. "Some builders are reducing prices to get rid of their inventory," Pryor says. "They may be a little nervous about what is happening on the national level."

But overall, the housing market in Oklahoma City has remained in good shape because it never had a speculative boom, and home prices have remained relatively low. Home sales are rising, in part, because of the strong local economy and job market.

"Oklahoma as a state is doing particularly well, and Oklahoma City is the standout," says Mark Snead, research economist at Oklahoma State University.

The city has long been known as a gas and oil producer, and that still provides an economic boost. But there isn't a single-industry story in Oklahoma City, Snead says. The area now is broadly diversified. "It is finally hitting its stride, and it looks like a typical metropolitan area," Snead says.

For example, in addition to oil and gas companies, it's home to the military aviation industry, such as Tinker Air Force Base.

No wonder that Forbes.com this year named Oklahoma City as the top recession-proof city in America. It said that the city's falling unemployment and strong housing market are reasons why "it looks best positioned of the nation's metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis."