With Maui? Wowie! Hochatown, Broken Bow make list for top investment
Hochatown, hard by Broken Bow in southeast Oklahoma, is drawing Texas investors to its booming cabin rental business like honeybees to a magnolia blossom.
Or Squatches to the woods. Bigfoots, that is.
So, it's no wonder that Maui, Hawaii, and Broken Bow-Hochatown, Oklahoma, just got mentioned in the same breath. They're on the same Top 25 list:
Maui was No. 1, but Denver-based AirDNA just reported the Broken Bow/Hochtatown area as one of the best markets for short-term rental investment in 2022, placing it 17th out of 265 U.S. markets tracked.
More: Could Hochatown, Oklahoma, be the next Branson, Missouri? Some people think so
"Broken Bow earned the highest Investability score on our list with an astonishing annual revenue of $85K per year," the report said.
In case you missed it, unincorporated Hochatown, in McCurtain County, 240 miles southeast of Oklahoma City and 170 miles northeast of Dallas, is drawing Texas investors in droves.
They're saying it could be the next Branson, Missouri. It's already a destination, with hundreds of luxury cabins, some as big as lodges, for rent and hundreds more in the works.
When the Choctaw Nation gets its new casino, hotel and resort built, it will be a literal resort town.
"Like many other outdoor retreat destinations," Hochatown "has benefited from the pandemic-inspired drive" toward outdoor recreation, said AirDNA spokesman Madeleine Parkin.
Hochatown was already on a roll before COVID-19 hit and social distancing and other precautions made the area even more attractive for long weekend stays and vacations. Extra-low mortgage rates sparked more investment, almost all from Dallas-Fort Worth.
More: As mortgage rates rise in OKC, are the good times nearly over for sellers?
Hochatown wasn't alone, by any means. Short-term rental properties everywhere, in big cities, small- and mid-size cities, and rural areas like Hochatown are earning 39% more annually on average than they were before the pandemic, Parkin said.
It's become a $113 billion industry, she said, and the AirDNA report "offers a playbook for investing."
"Using the most extensive and granular dataset in the industry, the research groups various metrics into three key pillars: revenue growth, rental demand and investability, to make our proprietary AirDNA Investor Score."
Broken Bow-Hochatown's Investor Score was 75. But its Investability Score was 100. Revenue Growth Score was 43. Rental Demand Score was 58.
AirDNA introduces would-be investors to Hochatown like this:
"Set in the foothills of the Kiamichi Mountains, Broken Bow is a small city in southeastern Oklahoma. Home to Broken Bow Lake, it provides a gateway for tourists to visit Beavers Bend State Park, Hochatown State Park, and Cedar Creek Golf Course at Beavers Bend.
"A popular year-round destination for regional travelers, the area is best known for its lake activities, abundance of wildlife, and pine forest trails.
"Broken Bow earned the highest Investability score on our list with an astonishing annual revenue of $85K per year. Investment properties in Broken Bow have grown 50% in popularity since last year, with more than 2,200 homes now available for short-term rent."
More: How hot is the real estate market in Oklahoma County? Home prices rose year over year
Plumb crazy, to put it in the local native vernacular. I do speak eastern Okie as a second language. Looky here at these big dogs little (for now) Hochatown is running with, AirDNA's Best Short-Term Rental Markets in 2022:
1. Maui, Hawaii.
2. Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
3. Chattanooga, Tennessee
4. Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi
5. Slidell, Louisiana
6. Crystal River, Florida
7. Joshua Tree, California
8. Charleston, South Carolina
9. Galena, Illinois
10. Southwest Harbor, Maine
11. Three Rivers, California
12. Gainesville, Florida
13. Buffalo, New York
14. Brookings, Oregon
15. Helen, Georgia
16. Townsend, Tennessee
17. Broken Bow, Oklahoma
18. Key West, Florida
19. Cloudcroft, New Mexico
20. Kansas City, Missouri
21. Williamstown, Kentucky
22. Memphis, Tennessee
23. Black Hills, South Dakota
24. St. Louis, Missouri
25. Santa Rosa, California
Allow me:
Hochatown, Oklahoma, population 242 — Sah-LOOT!
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.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Cabin rentals in Hochatown, Oklahoma, land it among top vacation spots
