Boulder Real Estate Market Strong Despite National Trends

1/29/2009

Boulder, Colorado, is more than a town. It’s an experience. From the jagged rock formations known as the Flatirons that rise dramatically from the western foothills to the Spanish-tile roofs crowning the timeless architecture of the University of Colorado campus, Boulder is a community that has masterfully merged natural beauty with institutional tradition and artistic expression.

I was born and raised in Boulder and today am proud to have founded the area’s only Sotheby’s International Realty office. I have watched Boulder grow into a fixture on the nation’s “Best of” lists. From ‘smartest city’ (Forbes Magazine) to ‘greenest city’ (multiple awards) to ‘Top 25 Destinations’ (TripAdvisor) to best city for artists, cyclists, farmer’s markets, restaurants…the list goes on and it’s an impressive one. But in my profession, what astonishes me most about Boulder, Colorado, is its real estate market’s resilience to adverse conditions.

The last several months have been trying times for our nation’s real estate market. We’ve watched markets that were on fire in 2006 and 2007 plummet in 2008 and in early ’09. The “Boulder bubble”, however, is far from being burst. Penetrated, yes: our average ‘days on market’ is longer and absorption rates are slower. But Boulder’s average median price in the residential housing sector continues to march upward. This week, according to ALTOS Research, Boulder’s median single-family home price hit an all-time high of $960,000 and those prices are trending upward! Inventory is tightening, which in part means buyers are responding to the historically low interest rates.

If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a piece of Boulder real estate, there’s no time like the present. Pictures tell the story best. Here’s an illustration of Boulder’s median price trend in the last 12 months compared with that of a few “once hot, now not” markets in the U.S. (Scottsdale, AZ; and Naples, FL). All I can say is “T.G.I.B”…(Thank God I’m in Boulder!).