Festival of Homes extends into a stretched-out summer selling season in central Oklahoma

The annual Festival of Homes, which continues Friday-Sunday on the south side of the metro area, is the same in the era of the coronavirus, but the pandemic has had its effects on some home shoppers' timing and preferences.

"With schools delaying their openings, it has some homeowners jumping at the last-minute opportunities to find a new home before students go back to school, which has extended our summer selling season," said Lindsay Haltom, of Homes By Taber, which has three neighborhood model homes in the festival. "It also has homeowners looking at their space differently than they did before, now needing space to homeschool or work full time."

"Festival visitors have also expressed the desire to get into a new home by the holidays, and they are using their once-earmarked vacation savings towards a new home."

The Festival of Homes, in its final weekend, has 36 new houses open free to the public from 1 to 7 p.m. Friday-Sunday in the Norman, Moore, south Oklahoma City and Newcastle areas. The Builders Association of South Central Oklahoma, BASCO, was the organizer.

Because of the coronavirus, masks are encouraged on the tour and will be provided at the Festival Show Home, built by Cougar Homes at 2212 Kimball Drive in Norman's St. James Park addition, just south of E State Highway 9 and 24th Avenue SE.

The Festival Show Home, 2,130 square feet in a modern-traditional style "with city loft influences," had good traffic last weekend, said Laura Horn, co-owner of Cougar Homes with her husband, Jon, and their daughter, Savannah Horn.

The event isn't just for people on the verge of making a purchase, she said.

"Many are in the process of building and looking for ideas to incorporate into their plans or material choices. Some were just looking for ideas and to see what's new. And a few were homebuyers out shopping," she said.

In all, the festival features 36 homes ranging in size from about 1,650 square feet to luxury homes over 3,800 square feet, and ranging in price from about $230,000 to $750,000.

Some proceeds from the sale of the Festival Show Home are donated to community endeavors such as the BASCO student chapter at the University of Oklahoma and to scholarships at Mid-America Vo-Tech and Moore Norman Technology Center for students interested in careers in the construction industry.

Festival of Homes Tour Books, with details on the homes, photos, a map and directions, are available at 7-Eleven. For more information, go to www.BASCO-Festival.com. Or call Stephen Koranda, BASCO’s executive officer, at 360–4161, or email eo@basco-ok.com.

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