Oklahoma could prove to be an island in a sea of housing crisis.

Many factors could keep the state from feeling the crunch of the nationwide credit and housing problems, a Federal Reserve Bank official told an Oklahoma City business newspaper.

A strong showing in the oil patch, coupled with home prices that have remained relatively stable over the past few years and a relatively low inventory of homes for sale could help the state weather a storm.

The Federal Reserve Bank official said the state appears to have already cut back on home inventory. Oklahoma had a permit drop in 2006 and 2007, way ahead of the nationwide decline. The state's inventory of homes has been lower than the national average of 7 percent, Chad Wilkerson told the Journal Record newspaper.

The sub-prime mortgage mess seems to have also skipped the state. One mortgage analyst said less than 5 percent of the home loans made in Oklahoma over the past few years fell into the sub-prime category.

Of those loans, half had fixed rates, meaning they won't see significantly higher mortgage payments beginning this year.