This 9 page report includes market data, graphs and recent sales for the Metro area, Parker and two very popular neighborhoods in Parker;  Canterberry Crossing and Stroh Ranch.

The overall Parker real estate market continues to show strong activity. Through February single family home sales are up 34.29% for Parker over last year for the same time period.  The inventory level of single family homes declined 2.57% in February/2013 from January/2013, and were down 29.56% when compared to February/2012.

The US Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) recently released their unemployment rates for the country and by state. Nationally, the unemployment rate stands at 7.7% at the end of February. Last year at this time the rate was 8.3%. Colorado is currently at 7.5%.

On the home mortgage scene, interest rates have trended up slightly since the first of the year. The traditional thirty-year fixed-rate loan has moved from 3.35% to around 3.75% depending on the lender and closing/loan costs. Sometimes an advertised lower interest rate can mean higher closing/loan costs. Buyers need to make sure when they are looking at getting a loan they are comparing apples to apples.

This is also the time of year when a large number of home sellers and buyers begin the process of becoming actively involved in the real estate market. The next few months are the time when the Parker real estate market begins to accelerate. Active listings will increase, but so will sales activity. Home values, especially in the lower price ranges, have been improving. Appraisers are aware of this and are making pricing adjustments accordingly. There has been a slight up-tick in sales activity in the higher end homes across most market areas. That’s a good sign for the overall market, since real estate markets strengthen from the bottom up.

New construction continues to play an important part of this renewed housing market. It started with production builders building starter homes, mid-range homes, and attached units. The market has slowly evolved to where custom builders are dusting off the cobwebs and seeing some activity. Spec inventory on expensive homes? Don’t expect to see that coming anytime soon. Banks and builders are still wary.

Here is a great overview of the number of active listings in the Denver metro area.  As you can see, the number of available homes is down almost 30%.

And the good news in this next graph is that prices have started to move up again!

With low interest rates, buyers are out looking for homes, and that has reduced the number of days it takes to sell a home.

These graphs are through Feb 2013.  I’ll update these graphs just as soon as MLS sends out the new ones.

If we look just at the Parker/Douglas county area, you’ll see the same trends.  Prices are moving up and the number of homes on the market is not keeping up with demand.

And finally, look at the stats just for a couple of Parker’s favorite neighborhoods.  Stroh Ranch had 25 homes sell in the first quarter.  That’s a 25% increase from a year ago!  Average sales prices are up, and days on the market are down.  It’s finally a good time to be a seller again!

And here are the recent sales in Stroh Ranch for the 1^st quarter of 2013.

Canterberry Crossing is another popular neighborhood in the Parker area.  This neighborhood has also experienced more home sales in the first quarter of 2013.  The average sales price has increased 5% over 1^st quarter of 2012, and the number of days to sell a home has dropped by 44%.  Great time to be a selling a home in Canterberry!!

And here are the recent sales in Canterberry Crossing for 1^st quarter of 2013.