Boulder County Real Estate August 2014
It’s hard to imagine we are already in late summer, and yet all the signs are here: moving trucks cruising about, frequent enslavement by traffic lights while getting across town, cooler nights and mornings. It has been a busy summer in Boulder real estate, and the July stats indicate the market is cooling. Let’s look at some numbers. Since the end of June available inventory of detached homes has dropped 6.7% and property under contract has dropped much further at 21.7%, indicating decreased buyer interest in the available homes. A look at attached dwellings indicates a tighter market, with a nearly 20% drop in both inventory and property under contract. This matches my experience in the neighborhoods, the open buyer warfare for houses so prevalent at all price points last summer has subsided in many categories indicating a gradual return to a more balanced market. The rule of the day is still low inventory, 6.3% fewer detached homes on the market than last year, but there is lower demand for what’s out there so it is less crazy. If you are serious about selling your home this year and have not had a recent offer, it is not too late to make a price drop, and then in my opinion, sit tight. Too many houses drop prices often and slowly over this period hoping to attract buyers, when the real issue is not looking better relative to other houses on the market, but a scarcity of buyers who are a match to your house at any price in your range.
For buyers and fence sitters, it looks like fall 2014 will be far better than the last two years! Could it be the return of leverage, some bottom feeding, maybe pick up a deal? Time will tell, pick up the phone and let’s talk about the opportunities out there.
WAPOS RESTAURANT REVIEW
Confluence: 1. a place where two rivers or streams join to become one 2. A coming or flowing together
Wapos, the Mexican restaurant at the confluence of US 36 and Broadway at the northern tip of Boulder, represents the best of what can happen when food and cultures flow together. Far from the hipsteresque reclaimed wood confines of many restaurant renovations in town and yet only a few minutes away by car, I sat at a slightly wobbly table in a parking lot patio, on a woven chair that gave me a generous case of wafflebutt. I soaked in the views of the traffic light and warehouses, cars zooming by in the distance, and the not-on-my-iPod Mexican music. There was a complete lack of pretention, yet my margarita was served in a Ball jar glass. There’s something about Wapos that actually feels Mexican with no need for plastic Corona bottles or bedazzled sombreros everywhere – like you’ve left town for a spell with occasional reminders you are still here.
Many long term Boulderites remember the restaurant that was in this space until two years ago with mixed reviews. According to our long-term NoBo table neighbors Tuesday night, the new owners and chef have overhauled everything that needed it, and nothing that didn’t. At our table a crisp and effective $4 happy hour margarita segued into another paired with queso fundido, a meatylicious melted cheese extravagance that delivered me to that happy place called Mexican food land where people don’t go to diet. I followed with the poblano soft relleno, roasted to perfection and stuffed with white cheese, a guacamole tostada, and a carnitas taco.
Everyone has Mexican food staples they use to compare one restaurant to another. For me, that’s carnitas- it’s hard to go wrong with slow roasted pork, and yet some carnitas sings, and other does not. When this carnitas stood up on the plate and played the opening notes of “La Bamba”, I knew Wapos would enter my regular rotation. Our neighbors both had the Mexican chopped salad with grilled steak for (healthy eaters), and loved it. Wapos has live music on the patio every other Sunday, including this Sunday 8/17, give it a try!
Wapos, 4929 N. Broadway St. Unit A 720-536-8457
Looking for a good restaurant? Tried this one and have an opinion? Want to learn more about Front Range Real Estate? Let me know what you think at www.stewartwardrealestate.com , and keep an eye out for The Best Burgers in Boulder 2014.