Agents for Home Buyers has been tracking average home prices in Boulder County and nearby communities since 1997. Those familiar with the Colorado real estate market know that the city of Boulder has always seen the most expensive home prices in Boulder County and that home prices there have consistently increased. But how do home prices in Boulder compare to nearby cities in the county like Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, and Superior? Let’s compare historical home prices in these cities and see which Boulder County cities have more affordable homes for sale.

Comparing House Selling Prices of Different Cities in Boulder County, Colorado

We know that home prices outside the city of Boulder are less expensive, but what exactly is the price differential, and has this differential changed over time? The data in the below chart provides some perspective on these questions.

Location, Location, Location: Closer to Boulder Means Prices Closer to Boulder

It’s no surprise to Boulder real estate agents that communities that are closer to Boulder, like Gunbarrel, Louisville, and Superior, tend to be priced closer to Boulder than more “distant” communities like Longmont or Westminster.

As the bottom chart indicates, Louisville and Lafayette home prices in 2020 were about 73% of Boulder prices, while Lafayette and Superior were at about 63% of Boulder pricing. Erie, Arvada, and Broomfield were at 52% and Longmont and Westminster were at 47%.

While prices are high in all of these communities relative to many other areas of the country, it’s good to know that you can spend half as much on a house, or buy twice the house for the same dollars, if you’re willing to commute 20-30 minutes into Boulder.

As Home Prices in Boulder County Rose Overall, Differences Between Cities Grew

While the relative cost of homes in these communities have always been linked with their distance from Boulder, there has been substantial change in the size of the price differential over time.

For example, prices in Gunbarrel were about 90% of Boulder prices in 1997, but by 2020 had dropped to 72% of Boulder prices. Over the same time frame, Superior prices dropped from 80% of those in Boulder to 47%. In all the neighboring communities, prices relative to Boulder dropped about 5% from 1997 to 2003. From 2004 to 2008, this 5% rate of relative decline was repeated for Lafayette and Superior, but for the remaining communities house prices dropped about 10% relative to Boulder prices.

Of course, the home prices were increasing throughout the area during this period, they were just increasing more rapidly in Boulder than in the other communities.

This trend of increasing price differentials largely ended with the start of the recession in 2008. From 2008 to 2020, Gunbarrel (5%), Superior (3%), and Erie (2%) were the only communities where these price differentials with Boulder continued to increase a bit. Meanwhile, Louisville and Broomfield gained a bit of ground on Boulder (1% & 2%), while Lafayette and Longmont prices gained 4% and Arvada and Westminster gained 8%. Significantly, none of these communities have lost value relative to Boulder over the past 5 years, and most of the gains have accrued over this period. Prices for Boulder’s “near neighbors,” Gunbarrel, Louisville and Superior, haven’t shifted relative to Boulder over this period, while the others have gained on Boulder by 4% to 6%.

This is pure speculation, but it’s possible that the extremely high home prices in Boulder and its near neighbors are pushing most buyers further out, increasing the competition for the available homes and leading to larger price increases in those areas than in Boulder. We’ll have to watch this over the next few years to see how it plays out.

Questions? Contact us and see how we can help you with your home search.