Tulsa's economy has diversified since the city was smacked by the '80s oil bust. Today, finance, aerospace and technology all contribute jobs. "And the telemarketing industry is very strong here," added O.C. Walker, executive director of the Tulsa Developmental Authority.
He also pointed that unemployment has been running well below national levels, although the rate increased to 7.5% in November from 7.2% a year ago.
Population growth has been middling, increasing just 8% between 2000 and mid-2009. The housing market never bubbled and there's a great deal of room for development, so home prices have remained affordable, with a median price of $142,000 at the end of the third quarter of 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The stable housing market and affordable prices meant that relatively few mortgage defaults were the result of dangerous loans.
Instead, it was the upturn in job losses that triggered most of the jump in foreclosure filings, which rose 38% in 2010 after jumping 68% the year before.
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