Life with children is expensive, but in some places a dollar goes a lot further. Bloomberg BusinessWeek evaluated information provided by community data company OnBoard Informatics to determine the best affordable suburb in each state.

While many of the places on this year’s list are near amenities such as country clubs and golf courses, the focus is not luxury, but rather communities where families can live well for less and enjoy good schools, low crime, and reasonable commutes. The selected suburbs were limited to towns within 25 miles of the most populated city in the state, with populations of 5,000 to 60,000, median family incomes of $51,000 to $120,000, and lower-than-average crime rates. We weighted a variety of factors including livability (short commutes, low pollution, green space), education (well-educated residents, high test scores), crime (low personal and property crime), economy (high job growth, low unemployment rate, high family income), and affordability (median household income, cost of expenditures). Affordability was most heavily weighted in our calculations. We penalized places with bad weather, a lack of racial diversity, high divorce rates, and few children.

The results range from established high-income neighborhoods to growing middle-income communities. For example, the smallest town on the list, Cave Creek, Ariz., has a population of about 5,000 and a median family income of $108,546, while Moore, Okla., one of the largest, has more than 51,000 residents and a median income of $63,309, according to OnBoard’s estimates. Despite their differences, all these places offer young families an attractive location to raise children and remain close to employment opportunities

7. Roxborough Park, Colo.
Nearest major city: Denver
Population: 8,211
Median family income: $94,084
Median home price: $230,000
Unemployment rate: 5.9%
Violent crime index: 16

The red rock formations near Roxborough Park, a community that developed in the 1970s, are considered some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Colorado. The 3,339-acre state park offers residents hiking and biking trails, cross-country skiing, and educational programs for Colorado geology and wildlife. The Douglas County School District is one of the best in the state.

Article by Venessa Wong, BusinessWeek

Graphs, Absorption Rates, Historical Data, Sold, Active, Average Sales Price, Days on Market

All areas side-by-side (buyer/seller/even market)

Highlands Ranch

Castle Rock & Douglas County West

Douglas County East, Elbert, Parker

Aurora South – Most of Arapahoe County – West of E-470

Jefferson County South

South Suburban Central (East Littleton, West Side of Centennial)

South Suburban East (East Side of Centennial, Some of Greenwood Village)

A Seller’s Market is <5.5 months of housing inventory
A Buyer’s Market is >6.5 months of housing inventory
A Even Market is between 5.5 – 6.5 months of housing inventory

This indicator above is called the Absorption Rate. Its the number of months it takes to sell the current inventory at the present rate of sales .

**Keep in mind that the right price, condition, location and amenities all come into play when selling/buying a home.

Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Let me know is you need a Realtor Referral, I know a number of good ones!

When:  Friday, January 22nd at 5:00 PM

Where: Elvis Theatre (Bowles/Kipling)

Movie: “Where The Wild Things Are”

All Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Entrance to the movie and a snack grab bag has been sponsored by these local Roxborough businesses:

Chad Bergman – Mortgage
Nic Vasilauskas – Farmers Insurnace
Andy Crabb – Flagship Retirement

Click here to RSVP

All areas Side-by-Side (buyer/seller/even market)

Highlands Ranch

Castle Rock & Douglas County West

Douglas County East, Elbert, Parker

Aurora South – Most of Arapahoe County – West of E-470

Jefferson County South

South Suburban Central (East Littleton, West Side of Centennial)

South Suburban East (East Side of Centennial, Some of Greenwood Village)

A Seller’s Market is <5.5 months of housing inventory
A Buyer’s Market is >6.5 months of housing inventory
A Even Market is between 5.5 – 6.5 months of housing inventory

This indicator above is called the Absorption Rate. Its the number of months it takes to sell the current inventory at the present rate of sales .

**Keep in mind that the right price, condition, location and amenities all come into play when selling/buying a home.

Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Let me know is you need a Realtor Referral, I know a number of good ones!

Typically one of the slower months out of the year, December was down  17% in sold homes from November and 8% compared to December 2008. Good news is our inventory is also down 16% from a year ago.  the average days on market was 89, down 10% from last year, indicating properties are selling faster and at a higher average sales price since that increased 13% from Dec. 2008.

© 1998-2010 Metrolist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

A free movie night is being offered by myself and 2 other local service providers.  The movie will be at Elvis Theatres near Kipling and Bowles, Friday, January 22nd at 5:00.  Admission and a Grab bag is FREE!

Please RSVP here.

PDF flyer to print or share

For the Month of December , 9 homes closed in the greater Roxborough area.  None of those were bank owned and 1 was a short sales. The average days on market for these sales is 66 days. Sellers are getting approximately 92% of their original asking price once they sell. 6 of the sales occurred in the Village, 3 in the Park. The highest priced sale was $500,000 and the lowest price was $210,000. 

Roxborough December 2009 Market Stats

Join my Roxborough Twitter account: MyRoxborough  

  Facebook Fan

Nic Vasilauskas with Farmers Insurance at the Roxborough Marketplace has shared some great rate savings for the season.  Below is a rate comparision which shows some great savings for both auto and home.

Feel free to contact Nic at (303) 523-6188 or email at nvasilauskas@farmersagent.com

Rate Comparision Chart

In all, 4.4 million Americans look to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit before it expires by the middle of next year. From the enactment in February of this year through October, NAR estimates 1.8 million households would have qualified to claim the first-time home buyer tax credit. Now with the tax credit deadline extended till the end of June 2010 (for closings, with contracts signed by the end of April, 2010) and also available to many move-up buyers, an additional 2.6 million families would likely claim the home buyer tax credit.

The expected boost to existing home sales by more than 20 percent in the first half of 2010 from comparable period one year before will sufficiently trim away inventory such that home values will begin to show increases by the middle of next year in many parts of the country. The median existing home price could rise by 2 to 4 percent in 2010. New home sales could jump by nearly 50 percent, though from very depressed levels to figures that would be less than half the pace as during the peak sales year in 2005.

One assumption underlying the home sales forecast is that the mortgage rates will continue to remain at near historically low around 5 percent and not more than 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is projected to stay high at slightly above 10 percent through the first half of next year, before steadily inching down. Another assumption is that the economy as measured by the GDP continues to expand at nearly 3 percent, thereby laying the foundation for eventual consistent net job gains sometime in the spring of next year.

More of the Article
by By Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Assoc of Realtors

Chad Bergman
303-875-2240