The average list price for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Boulder has crossed above $1 million, a rarefied altitude that places the city among the country’s most expensive housing markets, according to a new survey from Coldwell Banker.
Each year the real estate brokerage firm surveys list prices on that home type, popular with growing families, and offers comparisons across different areas.
Of the 2,722 areas looked at, Boulder ranked 27th with an average list price in the first half of the year of $1,044,656. That places Boulder in the top 1 percent, not counting ritzy resort areas like Vail and Aspen, which weren’t included.
Ahead of Boulder are mostly pricy California enclaves, along with Honolulu, Hawaii, and a smattering of cities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota and Washington.
Statewide, the average list price for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home rose to $418,344 from $407,789 in last year’s survey.
After Boulder, the next five most expensive cities for four-bedroom homes in Colorado are Castle Rock at $666,859; Evergreen at $661,000; Westminster at $561,762; Denver at $442,575 and Broomfield at $527,809.
At the other extreme is Pueblo, where four-bedroom homes on the market were averaging $151,708 and Monte Vista where they go for $177,947. Colorado Springs and Greeley remain comparative bargains at $252,157 and $268,064 respectively.
Dan Johnson, a managing broker for Coldwell Banker’s Boulder office, said the city lacks land to accommodate new larger single-family homes and planners have emphasized denser, multi-family development.
Scarcity, combined with tougher occupancy rules, has even caused larger homes once used as student rentals to convert back to single-family use, he said.
And the demand is outstripping supply for all types of housing — not just four-bedroom homes.
“We have listings for one-bedrooms in Boulder that are going for $1.2 million,” said Kelly Moye, a Re/Max agent based in Broomfield, who said she wasn’t surprised by the survey’s findings.
At Boulder’s average list price, a buyer would pay around $4,445 a month with a 10 percent down payment given current interest rates on a 30-year mortgage.
Johnson said those moving to Boulder from California and expensive coastal areas tend not to suffer the sticker shock as much as those coming from the South or Midwest.
That second group often start shopping in other parts of the county. Home prices there are also on the rise, but still below city averages.
The average price of a home sold in Boulder County was $638,146 in October, 17.7 percent higher than the average a year earlier, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or @aldosvaldi
