Market Stats and Facts

Yesterday we looked at market conditions in Longmont, Colorado today we are looking at the City of Boulder, Colorado.  Even thought Longmont and Boulder are both located in Boulder Valley they can have very different characteristics especially over the last 5 years.  For the the first quarter of 2012 it appears Boulder Real Estate and Longmont, Colorado real estate are running with similar patterns.  

The Market action index for Boulder is already hitting above 19.  Last year the market peaked in June so we should have some additional upside and may see our highest Market Index Rating in the last 3 years.  These are similar patterns to Longmont, but Longmont has shown strength over the past couple years where the city of Boulder has been

Longmont Homes and Real Estate is showing strength through the end of April 2012 and is looking good moving into the summer months.

The market conditions report above shows the greatest example of the switch being turned on.  You can see by the chart from Alto Research that the upward trend actual started in mid November, but has been picking up speed through the first quarter.  We are approaching 20, which is truly a balanced market.  We need to see trend lines in the 30's to signify a Sellers market.  The funny thing is that our paradigm has been a Buyer's Market for so long that our current market feels hot.  The numbers say we have a ways to go before it is truly a hot market.

As you would expect with the market being active

Boulder Area Markets Continue Rebound

Correction from the Bouler Area Board Of Realtors

March 2012 single family home sales in Boulder area markets improved significantly from February 2012; 270 compared to 172 respectively, up 57%. When compared to the 212 single family home sales in March 2011 there is a strong 27% increase. Condo and Townhome sales improved in March 2012 over February 2012 by more than 42%, 88 units versus 62. And, when compared to March 2011’s 75 units sold, March 2012 saw a 17% increase in units sold. Go to http://www.baraonline.com/sites/bara/files/statistics/March12stats.pdf to view stats.  http://www.baraonline.com/sites/bara/files/statistics/March12PricePoints.pdf to view sales by price point.

More Boulder

Sales are up in Boulder, Broomfield and Denver Metro area:

When we look at the chart above we can see the majority of the strength is coming from sale up to $500,000.  The upper end is also beginning to show some strength with 20 sales over $900,000.  13 of those sales were in the city of Boulder.  

Broomfield is showing more strength than we have seen in some time with 7 properties selling for over $500,000.  

This is the third month in a row that sales have shown considerable improvement in Boulder County and the Denver Metro Area.  March and April Under Contracts have been very strong so I am expecting April and May solds to exceed what we are already seeing.  It will be interesting to see how this impacts the press.  

Since the news

Economic Snapshot

A look at the current real estate market; provided by our friend Dan Johnson of RE/MAX ALLIANCE

March/2012

            As is characteristic of this time of year, the inventory level of available homes starts to expand. For Boulder County, active listings are up 18% through February/2012 compared to the end of 2011. Sales of single family homes and attached units are up 4% for the first two months of this year compared to the first two months of 2011.

            After four years of a declining real estate market (2006 to 2009) and the past three years having reached a plateau in sales activity (2009 to 2011), there appears to be a renewed buyer interest in the Boulder County real estate

The New York times reported this morning that the Big Money Investors Algorithms are saying it is time to Buy http://finance.yahoo.com/news/investors-looking-buy-homes-thousands-134405371.html.  In the past large investment funds have chosen to focus on large apartment buildings and commercial property when looking to invest in real estate.

In this current turn around large investors have added to their focus by including single family homes. When looking at the article in the New York Times this is the result of upside potential, but also the result of the efficiencies of technology.  in the past it would have been very difficult to amass 1,000's of properties and determine their value and rental potential, but with new technology such as

Boulder Condos For Sale

Boulder Condos sale have been fairly slow over the past few years as is evident by the strong reduction in pricing especially downtown.  Everyone and their mother was trying to take advantage of the success of Boulder One Plaza.  The advantage Boulder One had was it was first to market.  By time the Arete', Walnut and others showed up to the party the closing songs were already in que to be played.  as a result prices have seen a 20% or more reduction in value for much of the attached dwelling market downtown.  

Once you move beyond downtown into areas such as Dakota Ridge and Shanahan Ridge the Condo, Town home Market has held its own with prices staying fairly flat and are poised to rise.

We have seen some upper

Here at Re/Max Alliance of Boulder we are serious about getting your house sold fast.  A property we just listed last week at 4450 Comanche Dr in Boulder is already under vontract.  Within the first 6 days of being listed these homeowners received two offers for their asking price!  In today’s real estate market this is absolutely outstanding.  4450 Comanche is located in the desirable neighborhood of Frasier Meadows which is conveniently located close to Foothills Parkway, the Horizon's K-8 school, and the University of Colorado. Besides having a fabulous home, these sellers worked with us to make sure several things were done in order to get their house sold fast.  The tips and suggestions listed bellow are not just smoke and mirrors, they will

Wonderland Lake Boulder, CO

We continue to see sales activity far above what we have seen the last couple years in our Boulder Real Estate office and the news that banks are starting to swing the pendulum the other way and loosening up requirements is good news for today's home buyer.  In the article by DS New they outline that lenders are decreasing the equity requirements and making slight adjustments to the credit score requirements.  

Requirements will remain stringent but banks are coming into alignment with the true risk involved with a loan.  These equity requirements are also based on today's dollars, which are far more realistic the then numbers used during the housing bubble

Louisville Colorado Real Estate Market Update

If our Louisville Colorado Expert, Sharon Monroe, is any indicator of the market in Louisville things are on fire.  Sharon has been  moving at a fast pace keeping up with the needs of her clients in Louisville, so I decided to take a look at the numbers and we have seen a surge of activity with the absorption numbers moving above 22%, which indicates we are at a pretty balanced market.

We have also see the Median price moving above $430,000, now this does not mean a rise in prices as many people mistakenly assume, the average price per a square foot has actually decreased to around $160 per a square foot.  What it does mean is that higher end homes are selling.