Norman Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis
Norman, OK
Norman is the home of the University of Oklahoma (OU), and is located within the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2015, Norman engaged the services of RKG Associates to prepare a Housing Market Analysis, and separately, an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. Although the OU Norman Campus has maintained a steady average enrollment of approximately 25,000 over the past ten years, the City’s population grew by nearly 15% from 2000 to 2010, and an additional 6.5% from 2011 to 2014. The City was undergoing a surge in the development of student-directed housing, which had serious implications for both the supply and affordability of housing in the city overall.
The study sought to assess Norman's housing affordability with regard to the local, non-student population. With this information, the City could then develop strategies to, where appropriate, transition housing that had traditionally relied on student demand to being suited for more permanent households. Much of the study focused on quantifying the true student housing demand/supply dynamic, and the implications of additional housing supply that become available in the years that followed.
The study concluded that as additional student-targeted housing options came online for a student population that wasn't actually growing, the units students may vacate would then present opportunities for conversion into affordable housing options for permanent residents.
RKG identified decreased federal funding as the primary driver of a diminishing number of Section 8 Voucher housing units. In the face of decreasing CDBG and HOME funding at the federal level, Norman had effectively utilized its resources in support of a range of programs that helped with issues of affordability and access.
Photo Source: Downtown Norman