OKLAHOMA CITY — In the #1 Big U.S. City to Live In, the greatest challenge isn’t finding a home; it’s making sure a family gets to live in it before an investor does.

In an affordable market, “availability” does not always mean “equity,” placing private investors and families looking for affordable housing in a race against each other. Oklahoma City ranks as the nation’s best 2025-26 metro to live in, yet census data shows its housing supply trails behind its rising population.

While another study ranks OKC as the best city to buy a starter home, prospective buyers across the country report being consistently outbid by investors who have immediate access to cash they might not.

Nationally, first-time homebuyers are at a record low according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Baby Boomers (42%) own the market while Gen Z (4%) and Millennials (26%) are being squeezed out by rising costs and flat salaries.

“Everything’s more expensive,” said Ann Felton Gilliland, CEO of Habitat for Humanity. “It’s more difficult to get into homeownership. People tend to be living off their credit cards, which causes them to have an issue with having a good credit score. Everything has gone up except salaries; they haven’t gone up to meet the rising cost of just living.”

In OKC, the median home price is more than $165,000 below the national average, according to Redfin.

Affordability earned the city a 92nd percentile value score from U.S. News. However, even in one of the most affordable cities, the middle-income population that includes teachers, firefighters and service workers may struggle to afford a home in the city they serve.

As people from more expensive markets like Austin and New York run toward OKC’s 21-minute commutes and comparatively low rents, Habitat for Humanity is one part of a larger puzzle in making sure the local workforce doesn’t get left in the dust.

Framing their neighborhoods as long-term community investments, Felton Gilliland explained Habitat for Humanity OKC’s ongoing projects.

Cornerstone Creek is their development at NW 150th and Morgan Road, available to the public as well as those already signed up for sweat equity in the project. It’s a mixed-income neighborhood with parks, workout stations and trails.

“We don’t sell to investors at all; we sell to single families,” Felton Gilliland said. “When we have it built out, there will be 450 houses there.”

Habitat for Humanity has close to 50 houses built now at that location, and Felton Gilliland said the second phase of the addition will add 200 more houses. She emphasized revitalization without displacement.

Organizations like Positively Paseo and the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative are working in conjunction with the City of Oklahoma City to build on vacant lots and convert old motels into housing in OKC to address the housing gap in communication with existing residents.

Felton Gilliland said Habitat for Humanity operates on the belief that everyone deserves a decent place to live, stating it helps children do better in school and make friends in their neighborhoods.

“People just thrive, they do better when they’re in their own home,” Felton Gilliland said. “Getting into homeownership and getting into your own home is a life-changing experience for the better.”

Felton Gilliland also shared Habitat for Humanity’s Critical Home Repair program, aimed at fixing existing homes and helping neighbors age in place. The program recently received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank.

“This affords us the opportunity to really go in and make a difference,” Felton Gilliland said.

Before this grant, Habitat could replace windows and help paint, but the addition to the program enables the organization to assist in providing new roofs, central heat and air and other long-term projects.

“People want to stay in their own home; they don’t want to go someplace else, so we love helping them be able to stay comfortably,” Felton Gilliland said.