July 2010

Boulder County foreclosures down in the second quarter!  While the 2010 YTD numbers are actually up about 4% from the same period in 2009, the number of foreclosures reported by the Boulder County Public Trustee was down in each month of this (2nd)quarter.  Specifically, April was down 3%, May down 14% and June down 16% (all vs. the same period in 2009).

In the first quarter of 2010, the number of foreclosures in Boulder County was up 18.6% vs. 2009; the second quarter results actually show a decline of 10.8%, resulting in the YTD increase of about 4% overall.  So is the glass half empty or half full?

Realistically, Boulder County foreclosures are not going to disappear overnight.  However, breaking the numbers down by quarter in 2010 does give us some

Boulder County building permits may soon be easier and quicker to process!  If you've ever been frustrated with how long it takes just to permit a new gas line, for example, you'll be interested in this!  Starting July 15th, some of the more popular and common residential fixes and routine installations will be covered by Boulder County's new EZ BP (Easy Building Permit) program.  Here's a list of eligible projects, according to Boulder County:

• Re-roofs
• Electrical only
• Furnaces
• A/C
• Stoves
• Gas lines
• Eldorado Springs sewer hookups
• Water heaters
• Boilers
• Evaporative coolers
• Siding
• Mobile home park setups

You can read more details from Boulder County and get contact info using this link.  If you're considering remodeling your home, plese feel

Boulder landlords and tenants have another opportunity to voice their opinions at City Council's meeting on September 7, 2010.  At the meeting last Tuesday night, the Council agreed in compromise that all of Boulder's nearly 20,000 rental units should have to comply with the new energy-effeciency regulations known as "Smart Regs" by an extended deadline of 12/31/2018.  Other potential compromises are on the table as well.  Read the full article in The Camera using this link.

The Council has agreed to hear additional comments at the next meeting on 9/7, so mark your calendar if you're interested.  This appears to be a farily divisive issue in Boulder and, if enacted, will affect a lot of people - both Boulder landlords and tenants.  It remains to be seen

Boulder Real Estate: A Mid-Year Market Update and Review.  How is the Boulder real estate market faring this year?  The following statistics are taken from IRES as of 7/06/2010, and tend to reflect a residential re-sale market in Boulder that is offering some encouraging signs.  We wanted to present a number of charts this time, so we're using a new magazine-type format:

Browse Boulder Re-Sale Market Stats Using This Link

Median and average Boulder home prices have remained basically flat over the last 12 months, at about $530,000 and $637,000, respectively.  What's encouraging is that the average days on market, or DOM, has been reduced by about 32% to 75 days, while at the same time the overall inventory is down from a year ago.  Also encouraging is

Boulder, CO is #1 in "Quality-of-Life" survey for mid-sized U.S. cities, just released by Portfolio.com!  Add this to the growing list of Top 10 lists that Boulder has landed on recently and it's starting to become a real trend.  Among other thngs, Portfolio.com cited Boulder's high-tech industries, the fact that it is the home of Colorado University (CU), and the highly-educated work force as contributing factors to their selection.  Read the entire article using this link.  You can also read more about other recognition Boulder has received lately in our previous blog posts.

The Boulder real estate market has been recognized as being one of the best in the country recently, and has also landed on Top 10 lists for best places to retire.  Boulder was