Boulder's housing market combines high property values with a large university population, a sizable employment base, and development constraints that shape where new housing can be added.
Current Boulder housing data puts the city's median listing price at $1.049 million, median sold price at $910,000, and median asking rent at $1,895 per month. The latest home-value index places the typical Boulder home at $948,693, up 0.9% over the past year.
The areas below cover student-oriented housing, established residential neighborhoods, higher-priced central markets, and communities closer to Boulder's employment corridors.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult with a licensed professional before making any financial or investment decisions.
Key Takeaways
Boulder's median listing price is $1.049 million, while the median sold price is $910,000
Current neighborhood pricing varies substantially, from sub-$700,000 benchmarks in some CU-adjacent and southeast areas to more than $2 million in Newlands
CU Boulder remains a major housing influence, with 38,508 students enrolled for fall 2026
Boulder protects more than 46,000 acres of open space, while the city's Blue Line limits municipal water and sewer expansion west of the designated boundary
Short-term rentals have strict eligibility requirements, including a principal-residence rule for qualifying properties
What Boulder's Current Housing Market Looks Like
Boulder currently has 903 active homes for sale and 420 rental properties, with homes spending a median of 64 days on the market.
The city's median listing price is down 4.77% year over year, while its median sold price is down 8.50%. Median asking rent is also down 18.53% from a year earlier.
The typical Boulder home value is currently $948,693, up 0.9% over the prior year. Listing-price changes, transaction-price changes, and modeled home-value changes measure different parts of the housing market and can move in different directions.
Boulder also has structural characteristics that distinguish it from many nearby markets. The city's open-space system includes more than 46,000 acres, while the Blue Line policy limits city water and sewer service west of the designated line.
1) University Hill and CU-Adjacent Housing
University Hill Listing Price: About $498,995
CU-Adjacent Median Rent: About $2,175 per month
University Hill Days on Market: About 48 days
Cap Rate: Property-specific
University Hill sits immediately west of the University of Colorado Boulder campus and remains one of the city's most recognizable student-oriented residential districts. The neighborhood's median listing price is about $498,995, while the adjacent Colorado University area has a median asking rent of roughly $2,175 per month.
CU Boulder's fall 2026 enrollment is 38,508 students, creating a substantial student population around the campus and surrounding neighborhoods.
Investment Profile
University Hill pricing: Below Boulder's citywide listing median
Colorado University listing price: About $437,500
CU-adjacent rent: About $2,175 per month
Rental supply: The CU-adjacent area has a comparatively large pool of rental properties
Housing mix: Condos, apartments, detached homes, and older multifamily properties create several price points around campus
Why University Hill Made the List
University Hill's defining feature is its relationship with CU Boulder. Campus buildings, student housing, restaurants, retail, and residential streets sit within a compact area, giving the neighborhood a distinctly university-oriented housing market.
The surrounding area also includes everything from smaller condos to multimillion-dollar houses, so property type has a major effect on purchase price, achievable rent, and operating economics.
2) Martin Acres
Median Listing Price: About $906,000
Median Sold Price: About $884,380
Days on Market: 48 days
Cap Rate: Property-specific
Martin Acres is an established South Boulder neighborhood built largely during Boulder's postwar expansion. Its housing stock includes mid-century detached homes close to US 36, Baseline Road, CU Boulder, and other parts of South Boulder.
Investment Profile
Listing-price trend: Up 6.28% year over year
Price per square foot: About $612
Active listings: 7
Rental properties: 2
Market pace: Homes are spending substantially fewer days on the market than a year ago
Why Martin Acres Made the List
Martin Acres combines established single-family housing with convenient access to CU Boulder and South Boulder's transportation network. Its mid-century housing stock also gives it a different property profile from the condos around campus and higher-priced homes farther north.
Current inventory is limited, which can cause neighborhood medians to move as the mix of available homes changes. Its roughly $906,000 listing median remains below Boulder's citywide $1.049 million benchmark.
3) South Boulder
Median Listing Price: About $930,000
Typical Rent: About $3,500 per month
Active Listings: About 67
Days on Market: About 44 days
South Boulder covers a large residential area near Table Mesa, Martin Acres, Tantra Park, and the foothills. The area includes detached homes, condos, townhomes, and several established subdivisions.
Investment Profile
Current pricing: Median listing price sits below Boulder's citywide median
Rental benchmark: Median asking rent is about $3,500 per month
Property mix: Housing ranges from attached units to higher-value single-family properties
Transportation: US 36 connects the area with central Boulder and communities toward Denver
Outdoor access: Extensive trails and open-space areas sit around the southern and western edges
Why South Boulder Made the List
South Boulder combines established residential neighborhoods with access to major transportation routes, open space, and several distinct housing submarkets.
Table Mesa, Martin Acres, Tantra Park, and the foothill-adjacent portions of South Boulder can carry considerably different prices and property types. That range gives the area more variety than a single neighborhood median suggests.
4) Gunbarrel
Median Listing Price: About $785,000
Typical Rent: About $2,124 per month
Median Sold Price: About $747,500
Days on Market: 53 days
Gunbarrel sits northeast of central Boulder and combines residential neighborhoods with significant commercial and industrial employment areas. Its housing includes condos, townhomes, subdivisions, and detached homes at price points below Boulder's citywide median.
The area also sits near one of Boulder's major employment concentrations, with aerospace, bioscience, information technology, clean technology, and other advanced industries represented across the broader Gunbarrel business district.
Investment Profile
Median listing price: $785,000, up 54.22% year over year
Median sold price: $747,500, down 16.48% year over year
Price per square foot: $366, down 10.53% year over year
Active listings: 67, down 15.66% year over year
Rental properties: 21
Median rent: $2,124 per month, up 3.61% year over year
Market pace: 53 median days on market, down 19.70% year over year
Why Gunbarrel Made the List
Gunbarrel combines residential housing with one of Boulder's established employment districts, giving it a different character from the university-centered and foothill neighborhoods closer to central Boulder. Its mix of condos, townhomes, and detached houses also creates a wider range of property types than several of the city's predominantly high-end single-family areas.
5) North Boulder
Median Listing Price: About $1.295 million
Typical Rent: About $2,350 per month
Active Listings: About 134
Cap Rate: Property-specific
North Boulder stretches across a broad residential area north of central Boulder. Its housing includes older detached homes, newer infill projects, townhomes, apartments, and higher-value foothill-adjacent neighborhoods.
Investment Profile
Current pricing: Median listing price is above Boulder's citywide benchmark
Rental inventory: About 28 available rental properties
Housing variety: North Broadway, Old North Boulder, Wonderland Hills, and surrounding areas cover a wide range of price points
Newer development: Infill and attached housing have expanded the residential mix in several parts of North Boulder
Why North Boulder Made the List
North Boulder covers a particularly broad range of housing. The Broadway corridor and eastern portions include attached and newer residential development, while neighborhoods closer to the foothills contain substantially higher-priced single-family homes.
That variety gives North Boulder several distinct residential segments within one part of the city.
6) Newlands
Median Listing Price: About $2.62 million
Price per Square Foot: About $767
Active Listings: About 19
Cap Rate: Property-specific
Newlands sits between central Boulder and the foothills, close to Mount Sanitas and North Boulder. High-value single-family homes make up much of its residential market.
Investment Profile
Current price tier: More than twice Boulder's citywide listing median
Rental inventory: Only a small number of properties are currently available for rent
Housing stock: Older homes, extensively renovated properties, and newer custom construction
Foothill access: Mount Sanitas and nearby open space shape the neighborhood's western edge
Why Newlands Made the List
Newlands represents the upper end of Boulder's conventional residential market. Its combination of foothill access, proximity to central Boulder, and predominantly single-family housing gives it a very different market profile from student-oriented University Hill or more mixed-price areas farther east.
Its small inventory also means individual listings can have an outsized effect on neighborhood median prices.
7) Central Boulder
Median Listing Price: About $1.495 million
Typical Rent: About $1,595 per month
Median Sold Price: About $1.437 million
Days on Market: 53 days
Central Boulder includes several of the city's established residential neighborhoods surrounding downtown and Pearl Street.
Investment Profile
Listing-price trend: Up 15.44% year over year
Sold-price trend: Up 6.44% year over year
Price per square foot: $789
Active listings: 135
Rental properties: 115
Rental trend: Median asking rent is down 23.87% year over year
Why Central Boulder Made the List
Central Boulder combines high-value residential housing with close access to downtown, Pearl Street, CU Boulder, offices, restaurants, and other urban amenities.
The current market also shows different directions across the sale and rental sides. Listing and sold-price medians are higher than a year ago, while median asking rent is substantially lower.
8) Downtown Boulder
Median Listing Price: About $994,500
Median Sold Price: About $831,000
Price per Square Foot: About $865
Days on Market: 83 days
Downtown Boulder centers on Pearl Street and the surrounding commercial and residential blocks. Housing is weighted more heavily toward condos, apartments, loft-style properties, and attached housing than many of Boulder's outer neighborhoods.
Investment Profile
Listing-price trend: Up 3.81% year over year
Sold-price trend: Up 7.23% year over year
Active listings: 27
Rental properties: 22
Inventory trend: Active for-sale listings are down 32.50% year over year
Why Downtown Boulder Made the List
Downtown provides one of Boulder's most urban residential environments. Homes sit within walking distance of restaurants, retail, offices, civic destinations, and Pearl Street.
Property format matters particularly here. Condo pricing, HOA costs, parking, building amenities, and rental restrictions can create considerably different economics between two properties with similar purchase prices.
9) Mapleton Hill
Median Listing Price: About $1.55 million
Price per Square Foot: About $798
Active Listings: About 18
Rental Properties: About 15
Mapleton Hill is one of Boulder's historic residential areas immediately northwest of downtown. The neighborhood includes preserved historic architecture, larger single-family homes, and direct access to central Boulder.
Investment Profile
Current price tier: Well above Boulder's citywide listing median
Housing character: Historic homes make up a significant part of the neighborhood
Inventory: Current for-sale supply is limited
Location: Downtown and Pearl Street sit directly east of the neighborhood
Open-space access: The western edge is close to foothill trails and open space
Why Mapleton Hill Made the List
Mapleton Hill combines historic housing with unusually close access to both downtown Boulder and the foothills.
Relatively few properties are available at any one time, so market medians can move substantially as the composition of available homes changes. Property condition, historic status, lot characteristics, and operating expenses therefore matter considerably at the individual-property level.
10) Southeast Boulder
Median Listing Price: About $625,000
Typical Rent: About $2,250 per month
Active Listings: About 70
Days on Market: About 65 days
Southeast Boulder contains a mix of condos, townhomes, apartments, and detached homes stretching across the city's eastern and southeastern residential areas.
Investment Profile
Current pricing: Considerably below Boulder's $1.049 million citywide listing median
Price per square foot: About $447
Rental inventory: About 32 properties
Housing variety: Attached housing represents a larger part of the market than in several high-priced western neighborhoods
Why Southeast Boulder Made the List
Southeast Boulder provides one of the clearest contrasts with the city's premium central and foothill markets. Its lower headline listing median reflects a broader mix of condos, attached homes, and conventional residential property.
The area also sits closer to East Boulder's employment and commercial districts, where technology, aerospace, bioscience, manufacturing, and other advanced industries have a significant presence.
What the Boulder Data Shows
Boulder's citywide median hides an unusually broad price range.
CU-adjacent housing and parts of Southeast Boulder can carry listing benchmarks well below the $1 million mark, while Newlands, Mapleton Hill, and other foothill-oriented neighborhoods can exceed $1.5 million to $2 million.
Rental pricing varies just as much. South Boulder currently carries a substantially higher asking-rent benchmark than the citywide median, while some premium neighborhoods have too few rental listings for a stable neighborhood-level median.
The latest citywide figures also show mixed market direction. Median listing and sold prices are below their year-earlier levels, while the broader home-value index is modestly positive at 0.9%.
For an individual rental property, purchase price and gross rent are only part of the picture. Taxes, insurance, HOA expenses, maintenance, management, financing, vacancy, licensing, and other operating costs determine property-level economics.
Boulder Rental Rules to Know
Boulder requires rental licensing for qualifying residential rental properties.
The city's long-term rental rules generally apply to rentals of 30 days or more. Long-term rental properties are also subject to applicable inspection and SmartRegs requirements unless an exemption applies.
Short-term rentals operate under a separate framework. Under Boulder's short-term rental rules, stays of 29 days or fewer require a short-term rental license.
The property must also be the owner's principal residence. The city requires an annual affidavit confirming continued principal-residence eligibility, and the license is no longer valid when the property is sold.
How mogul Puts Individual Properties at the Center
Boulder's neighborhoods show how quickly pricing, rental inventory, housing type, and operating considerations can change across a single city. mogul applies that property-level focus to individually selected U.S. residential real estate.
You can choose specific properties, review their underwriting, and own fractional interests connected to individual residential assets while professional teams manage ongoing operations.
You Choose the Property
Each property on mogul is held through its own investment-club LLC. You choose the individual property you want exposure to and purchase a fractional membership interest associated with that LLC.
The guide to fractional real estate explains the ownership structure in more detail.
The Team Filters First
mogul was founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate professionals with more than $10B in real estate experience.
Before a property reaches the platform, the review process can include:
Market and neighborhood research
Property-level underwriting
Acquisition analysis and negotiations
Property inspections
Investment-committee review
Less than 1% of reviewed properties pass the full diligence process.
You Can Run the Numbers
Boulder's wide range of purchase prices makes property-level underwriting especially relevant. mogul's investment property calculator lets you model a specific U.S. address using purchase price, financing, rental income, expenses, and holding assumptions.
That gives you a straightforward way to explore how different inputs affect an individual property's economics.
Management Continues After Closing
mogul works with professional property management to support leasing, tenant coordination, maintenance, and ongoing operations.
Once a property is operational and has distributable net rental income, available income is generally distributed monthly according to the property's performance and your ownership interest.
mogul by the Numbers
The platform currently reports:
More than $100M invested on the platform
More than 50K members
More than 600 residential units
An 18.8% average IRR across platform assets
Less than 1% of reviewed properties passing the full diligence process
The 18.8% figure reflects historical platform performance. Historical performance does not guarantee future investment results.
First-Year Loss Protection
If you're a qualifying new member, qualifying investments made during your first seven days can receive up to $10,000 loss protection.
If the aggregate total return on those qualifying investments is negative after the first year, mogul can cover eligible losses of up to $10,000 from its own balance sheet, subject to the promotion terms.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult with a licensed professional before making any financial or investment decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Boulder's current median home price?
Boulder's current median listing price is $1.049 million, while the median sold price is $910,000. The latest home-value index places the typical Boulder home at $948,693, up 0.9% over the past year. These measurements track different parts of the housing market and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Which Boulder areas currently have lower listing-price benchmarks?
Several areas in this guide sit below Boulder's citywide $1.049 million median listing price, including University Hill and CU-adjacent housing, Southeast Boulder, Gunbarrel, Martin Acres, South Boulder, and Downtown Boulder. Property types differ significantly across these locations, so lower neighborhood medians can partly reflect a larger share of condos, townhomes, or other attached housing.
How does CU Boulder affect the local housing market?
CU Boulder's fall 2026 enrollment is 38,508 students, in addition to its faculty and staff population. That campus presence contributes to housing activity in University Hill, the Colorado University neighborhood, Martin Acres, and other areas around campus, although individual rental performance still depends on the property and lease structure.
Can any Boulder property be used as a short-term rental?
No. Boulder limits qualifying short-term rentals to properties rented for 29 days or fewer and generally requires the property to be the owner's principal residence. Owners must obtain the appropriate license before advertising the property, and additional requirements can apply depending on the property.
How does fractional ownership work through mogul?
mogul lets you select fractional membership interests associated with property-specific investment-club LLCs that own individual residential properties. mogul handles the property-selection process and works with professional property management on ongoing operations, while qualifying distributable net rental income is generally processed monthly according to property performance and ownership interests.