The city of Boulder has remained generally unaffected by the devastating economic recession gripping the vast majority of the United States. The vast downturn was caused primarily by the collapse of the so-called sub-prime mortgage market, which in turn caused a domino effect with catastrophic consequences for the rest of the economy's components. This tragedy had a limited effect on Boulder, although Boulder real estate did not suffer a crippling blow from this collapse. The fact that Boulder was not strongly affected by the overall crisis is attributable to a number of factors, potentially including higher standards on the part of local banks and possibly more responsible buyers in the region. This means that, compared to the rest of the United States real estate market, Boulder real estate is disposed more towards sellers than towards buyers.
In fact, there is a professional consensus that Boulder is one of the most lender-friendly communities in the United States. The Private Mortgage Insurance United States Market Risk Index ranks almost every city, metropolitan area, and county in the country on a five point scale - Minimal, Low, Moderate, Elevated, and High, where minimal is the best and high is the worst. Boulder County is categorized as Minimal risk, meaning that loans made in the region are especially stable and unlikely to be subject to foreclosure. Boulder has not seen a large amount of foreclosures, a stark contrast to other portions of the greater Denver area and Colorado in general, where new construction has been especially susceptible to foreclosure.
The most popular section of the Boulder Real Estate is between 300,000 and 550,000, according to Realtor Alta Drumm, who operates in the region. This is the price range most commonly targeted by first time home buyers, who are being encouraged to purchase homes nationwide by means of an eight thousand dollar tax credit from the federal government. As of July 13, 2009, an article in the Colorado Daily quoted a realtor with Kearney Realty Company as saying that “We had a pretty nice second quarter...”, an indication that industry professionals are increasingly confident to the continued rebound currently being experienced in the Boulder Real Estate Market.