The median price of residential (including single family and attached dwellings) home sales in Boulder County during 2016 was $450,000. This was up roughly 12.5% for the year. But this is far from the whole story regarding home prices in Boulder County. As we break the statistics down into the individual communities throughout the county we start to get a broader sense of what is happening. The first graph below shows the median single family home prices of each of the local communities since 1997. Over the last twenty years Boulder has really outpaced the other communities in the area.
The comparison for attached dwellings (condos and townhomes) is similar but not quite so differentiated.
Another way to look at the prices in different communities is to break down by price range where the sales took place in each community. First let’s start with the county as a whole.
During the most recent quarter 62% of all sales were less than or equal to $500,000. This percentage has been relatively stable over the past three years (comparing just 4th quarters). However, the lower price range ($0 – $250,000) has decreased 17% and those sales have moved to the right.
Boulder is more expensive! This isn’t news. Just 36% of all sales were $500,000 and below. It’s interesting to look at the more equal dispersion of sales across all price ranges. Over the last three years the entry level has shrunk by 2/3 and the high end has increased.
The sales mix in Longmont is completely different that Boulder. 91% of sales are $500,000 or below. 82% of sales are between $250,000 and $500,000 and over the last three years the entry level has shrunk from 45% to just 9%.
In between Boulder and Longmont are the other communities in East County. The graph below puts Erie, Superior, Lafayette and Louisville together. During the most recent quarter in those communities 59% of sales took place at or below $500,000. The $500,000 to $750,000 price range is really growing and$1 million plus sales are still rare in those communities (doesn’t include unincorporated Boulder County).
Prices are rising but there is still a nice mix of price ranges within a reasonable commute to anywhere in Boulder County. It’s always been a trade-off between price, location and condition. But now the entry point is higher.
