April 05, 2006

The $600,000 1-bedroom condo in Boulder Colorado


From the MLS (sorry - can't direct link - private view) - the $600,000 1-bedroom condo. Osman, my troll (I know, don't feed the trolls, but this realtor one is fun!) is telling folks come buy property in Boulder. I say it's overpriced, just like most other towns in the US, and due for a crash.

1155 Canyon BLVD 301, Boulder, CO 80302
MLS# 485081
Price:$599,000
Bedrooms: 1
Baths: 1


I had looked at Boulder a year ago, for a possible move before London. Could not believe the price of condos. Being the snob I am, I only wanted new construction, and couldn't find anything of my taste less than $400k. Or it felt about 100% - 200% overpriced. So figured I'd wait it out.

The troll says come on down, hundreds of 1 bed condos priced under $200k. Of course there are - they're called Colorado 1970's hellholes. That'll be HUD homes real soon. Want to see something lose its value in a hurry? Purchase a Colorado hellhole condo during a condo bubble.


OK, last time I feed this troll. But have at it.



12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The troll (osman or whatever) wants to believe the same thing we all do: that our area (and our house prices) are somehow immune to the coming cold.

It's simply not true. Every area could have an argument why it won't be affected. Florida has beaches and Mickey mouse, California has 70' and sun, New York/DC corridor has jobs, but when it's all said and done none of those factors justify the massive runup in prices.

It's going to be one hot summer that is ice cold. The real estate market in Florida is frozen and not even the 90' July heat can unfreeze it, beaches or no.

Anonymous said...

There are 1,000 people a day moving to Florida. What about Colorado?

1,000 people a day and we're still going to have a massive real estate bust. Doesn't that defy some kind of Realtor(TM) law of supply/demand?

Anonymous said...

I was one of the folks who went house shopping after the 80s oil bust in Denver. We travelled far and wide as we checked out the thousands and thousands and thousands of foreclosures- including the Boulder area. We were house shopping in 1987 just before the 87 stock market crash.

In the general Denver/Front Range area, the drop in housing prices was around 40%. Many condos and townhomes were way way down- lots of $12-15,000 1BR condos available especially in the Aurora area. Mid-range residential houses were down 30-40%.

However, the Boulder area did not drop at all. The prices remained the same before and during the housing bust. No price increases but no big drops. Basic 3BR brick ranches were going for around $80,000 at the time.

We bought a foreclosed 3BR house in Denver for $65,000 cash.

Anonymous said...

Boulder has the blue line which prevents building in much of the mountains and the open space program which has 43,000 acres in and around the city. Most of the land is locked up with conservation easements. Since 1898 the City of Boulder has been working to control and direct growth. There is a very strong local cultural idea that a small Boulder is better. The building codes are extremely strict. Boulder is one of the few municipalities that can claim such a long and successful record of controlled growth.

Anonymous said...

I think Boulder would be a great place to live since it is the home of Mork and Mindy.

It is obvious so much success has been parlayed by their presence.

Dave Barnes said...

1155 Canyon Blvd 301 Boulder, CO 80302
$599,000 - 1 bed 1 bath 1038 sf

Elegant contemporary Urban Building on Boulder's most prestigious corner. Many units with unbeatable unobstructed Flatiron and foothill views! 20 residences with upscale contemporary finish packages including; Brazilian Cherry floors, slab granite and concrete countertops, marble, travertine and leather tiles. Wolf, Sub Zero and Asko appliances. Secure elevator building with underground parking and storage. Accepting contract March 27th, 2006

Subdivision: 1155 Canyon Condominium
Year Built: 2007
Garage Spaces: 1

Total Square Feet: 1038
Finished Square Feet: 1038
Finished Square Feet w/Basement: 1038
Main Level Square Feet: 1038

Inclusions: Dishwasher,Clothes Dryer,Garage Door Opener,Gas Range/Oven,Intercom,Microwave,Refrigerator,Self-Cleaning Oven,Clothes Washer

Design Features:Fire Alarm,Fire Sprinklers,Open Floor Plan,Separate Dining Room,Walk-in Closet,Washer/Dryer Hookups,Wood Floors

Outdoor Features:Balcony

Construction: Metal Siding,Other Construction,Stucco
Basement Foundation: No Basement
Cooling: Central Air Conditioning
Heating: Forced Air,Individual Heat Source
Fireplace: Gas Logs Included,Living Room Fireplace

Directions: Site is wes on Canyon between Broadway & 11th. Not yet built. Visit the sales office at 1800 Broadway

Osman said...

Keith, when you change your argument it doesn't make you right. It only raises questions about your integrity.

Here's what your wrote (direct quote):
I went back to boulder a year ago to look for a condo to buy. Much to my dismay, a 1 bedroom condo is now $600,000+ in boulder.

So I showed you over 200 condos on the market in Boulder right now for LESS than $200K. Oops. But instead of admitting you were wrong because you don't know the local market, you've switched to talking about a specific property. New construction that happens to be at the best location in the city, near the historic district, with granite countertops, a wolf range, and subzero appliances.

It's like saying you want a Ferrari for the price of a Honda. Or suddenly deciding you want something facing the park on the upper west side, or waterfront property.

The reality is that there are over 200 condos currently on the market below $200K, an affordable price to live in arguably one of the best small cities in America. I'm not trying to "sell" Boulder. I don't have to. The demand for housing here has been incredible for a very long time because of how much it offers in way of quality of life. No "selling" required.

So, when you lack a point or convincing arguement - go ahead and malign me Keith. Delete my critical posts while you let racially inflammatory comments stay. Whatever helps you sell more ad-clicks. But when you change your arguements to prove a point, you're losing serious credibility.

Oh, and your intelligent readers know it too.

p.s. Moman, I never said Boulder won't be effected. I've been researching and writing about the housing bubble since 2003. My position is that each market will respond differently to a housing bubble collapse based on many factors. Is your market a primary housing market or a second home market? How diversified is the local economy? How large a run-up did the housing market have from 2001 to 2005? How much speculation was there? These are some of the factors that will determine how your housing market behaves as the bubble markets deflate.

Although it has yet to show up in the the numbers, depending on how badly the bubble bursts in other locations, I expect a slowdown in Boulder this summer compared to last year with inventories as much as 20% higher. But if it happens, it's a short term psychological effect because the local fundamentals of this market are reasonable. Plus, there is way too much smart money floating around this community, and alot of investors understand that real estate is a game played on the local/regional level.

If you're serious, you need to know what's happening in your locale. You need to know the drivers of supply and demand for your community. Don't base your local real estate decisions on the national news media or some sensationalistic bubble blog whose obvious intent is to schlep google ads and make money from the clicks.

blogger said...

boy, that guy has some serious issues.

Anonymous said...

Osman-"alot of investors understand that real estate is a game played on the local/regional level."

The only problem with this is that the global economy sets interest rates well outside the local economy.

Economic policymakers and consumers in Beijing have more to do with mortgage rates in Boulder than local factors in the Colorado economy.

Osman said...

I agree Desbear. Rising rates will put a damper on real estate markets nationwide. With most assets, easy financing shouldn't substantially drive the value of the underlying asset. But for some reason it did with housing.

Or maybe it was a number of reasons...

Perhaps the money that rushed into housing from the equities markets (post bubble), the long pentup demand for housing, lower interest rates and standards for lending, and finally our cultural tendency toward speculation was a perfect storm.

While policymakers have influence, I don't think Bejing consumers do. It's not Chinese consumers buying US Treasuries, is it?

Something that I haven't been able to fully understand is why there isn't more transnational consumer and business direct lending (rather than through the purchase of securities on the secondary market). Perhaps somebody could help me out here (an economist in the audience?).

In an increasingly global world - why didn't Japanese banks, where interest rates remain near zero, lent money to the rest of the world during their long recession?

Anonymous said...

Osman-"In an increasingly global world - why didn't Japanese banks, where interest rates remain near zero, lent money to the rest of the world during their long recession?"

Hello! It's called the "carry trade"- borrowing money in Japan at 0% and lending to other societies/customers at their higher market rates. Been going on for some time now- and a pillar of the US credit boom.

Nice easy work if you can get it....

Osman said...

Desbear,
I understand about the institutional carry trade. but I was talking about direct to consumer type lending (i.e. retail lending). I have yet to see a Japanese bank underwriting a US consumer loan of any kind.