Home sales picked up in the OKC area in March, as usual, with the spring buying season starting to unfold despite concerns in some quarters that it wouldn't, and with more than twice as many homes to choose from as a year ago, although the inventory remained basically flat compared with February.

The median sales price was up here, too, month to month and year over year. Oklahoma City prices were out of step with the country as a whole, which saw prices fall year over year for the first time in more than a decade, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The pace of sales here surpassed gains across the nation, according to the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors., and comes just in time for the Spring Parade of Homes. It will be Friday-Sunday and April 28-30, with new homes open free to the public from noon to 6 p.m. each day from Edmond to Norman and Yukon to Choctaw.

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How homes sales in Oklahoma City area compared with U.S. sales in March 2023

"Nationally, existing home sales jumped 14.5% month-over-month as of last measure, the first monthly gain in 12 months, and representing the largest monthly increase since July 2020," OKC Realtors reported.

Why the jump?

"The sudden uptick in sales activity stems from contracts signed toward the beginning of the year, when mortgage rates dipped to the low 6% range, causing a surge in homebuyer activity," the local Realtors said.

Here are the latest numbers, from March, via the Oklahoma City Metro Association of Realtors. They reflect sales in Oklahoma City, Arcadia, Bethany, Blanchard, Choctaw, Deer Creek, Edmond, Harrah, Luther, Midwest City, Moore, Mustang, Newcastle, Nicoma Park, Norman, Piedmont, Tuttle, Warr Acres and Yukon — not the entire MLS, which extends past the OKC area into rural locales.

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How much homes sold for in the Oklahoma City area in March 2023

• Median sales price: March, $272,395, up 9% from February, $250,000; up 6.8% from March 2022, $255,000.

• Percentage of asking price received: March, 99.2%; up from February, 98.6%; down from March 2022, 101.2%.

How many homes were offered for sale in Oklahoma City in March 2023

• Inventory of homes for sale: March, 2,606; up 0.9% from February; up 124% from March 2022.

• Months of supply: March, 1.8 (55 days); down from 1.7 (55 days) in February (52 days); up from 0.6 (18 days) in March 2022.

• New listings: March, 1,943; up 26.6% from February; down 4.8% from March 2022.

• Closed sales: March, 1,419; up 32.6% from February; down 17.1% from March 2022.

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Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma City home prices, sales up compared with nation in March 2023