Relocation - Neighborhoods And Nearby Communities

As long as you aren’t set on oceanfront property, you just might fall in love with a home in one of Boulder’s varied neighborhoods. This chapter is for those who enjoy checking out how other people live. It highlights neighborhoods in Boulder and around the county. Boulder’s older neighborhoods get the spotlight first. We follow with a description of mountain places, then cities on the plains. If you want more practical information on settling down, check our Real Estate and Relocation chapter.

Relocation - Real Estate And Relocation

In recent years, Colorado generally and Boulder specifically have been among the hottest housing markets in the nation. For a while, the housing market was so hot that Boulder home buyers had a half-hour to run through a home, then sign up before the next buyers beat them to it. Factors including rapid growth of well-paying jobs, the high demand for housing, and a low supply of available homes continues to rank Boulder at the top for average single-family home prices among the metro-area counties. In the past few years buyers scrambled, and there were many reports of people making two or three offers on houses before they could actually call one their own. Even those moving from high-priced locales such as San Francisco found themselves paying $60,000 more than they had planned. “We expected this to be a cakewalk,” said one newcomer from the West Coast. “We made offers on five houses before we got one.” Home prices in surrounding communities such as Longmont, Lafayette, and Louisville have climbed sharply even without the benefit of the Boulder postmark. In 2001, home prices in Boulder and the surrounding area finally slowed. Once considered a hotbed for sellers, by mid-2003 it was considered a buyer’s market for the first time in two decades. Renters benefited too, with landlords offering incentives and dropping prices $50 to $100 from the previous tenant’s payment. The nation’s struggling economy has also taken a toll on homeowners. In mid-2003, there were 30 percent more homes for sale in the Denver metro area than at the same point a year earlier. Despite the slowdown, the county remains one of Colorado’s most expensive.

This chapter provides a general sense of home prices and rental costs in Boulder County. It also includes bargain-hunting tips, ideas on what to look for in a Boulder home and neighborhood, and a list of real estate resources. If you’re looking for a Boulder home, happy hunting!