Whoa...We're Halfway There

Crisafulli Team
Jul 2
3 min read

Hello!

July 2nd is the exact calendrical halfway point of 2026.

It’s also the inexact halfway point of the real estate season.

So where are we at?

We’re having a busy year: strong demand for our listings, and a good bit of competition for our buyers.

In this kind of market, there’s more room to negotiate—and that’s a good thing. Nobody likes feeling powerless in a transaction.

But more negotiation means more moving parts, more communication, and more opportunities for things to go off the rails.

The greatest factor in derailment is story telling (well, it’s actually track defects, but we’re in a metaphor here).

This happens when one party in the transaction takes the limited information available and crafts a story. We humans do this naturally. Unfortunately, it also seems instinctive to craft stories that assume the worst about the other party’s character or motives.

We don’t mean to be ungenerous, but real estate transactions carry high emotions and high stakes. Fear can get the best of any of us.

That’s when a leak discovered during a buyer’s inspection turns into, “The seller is trying to hide a plumbing issue.” Or a buyer asking for a concession for GFCI outlets becomes, “They’re just trying to nickel-and-dime us because they know we have to sell before the end of the month.” A delayed response is, “They’re obviously not considerate people.”

More often than not, the leak is new information to everyone. The concession for electrical work is because the buyers are financially stretched, and $500 is truly meaningful to them. The delay is due to a family emergency, or bad cell reception.

We’re grateful to work with people who, the vast majority of the time, take the charitable view. And when we do encounter this kind of storytelling, it’s usually not coming from our side of the deal.

On the cusp of America’s 250th, we’re sharing this because what we’ve found works best in real estate also works best in life: suspend judgment, stay curious, and when in doubt, assume the best intentions in others. If we can do that, we could have a good shot at another 250.

Semiquincentennially,

Crisafulli Team

Market Update

Here’s the latest housing report. It’s sort of interesting! Which is just fine. If it’s too interesting, it’s because there’s been a shock to the system, and often more finger-in-socket than defibrillator.

Summary & Analysis: In the housing market ecosystem, buyers create demand and sellers create supply. When those forces are roughly equal, we call it a balanced market—which is where our local market appears to be today. Affordability is still a big issue, but buyers seem to be adapting to higher ownership costs as the new normal. This could be due in part to housing’s unique dual role: it’s both a consumption good and a long-term asset. When you own, you can build equity, hedge inflation, and stabilize your housing expense. Also, AI can’t take your assets as easily as it can take your job.

Mortgage rates (30-year conv.) are 6.5%, down from 6.8% a year ago. The impact is about $100/month ($600K purchase with 20% down)—not nothin’, but not much. Predictions are that mortgage rates will remain in this range until there’s a substantial decrease in the rate of inflation, which, along with wage stagnation, is causing many Americans to be pinched financially.

NOCO Median Sales Prices (Single-family homes, May 2026):

• Boulder—$1.325M (down significantly from $1.9M last Feb)

• Fort Collins—$659,000

• Windsor—$640,000

• Berthoud—$619,900

• Longmont—$590,000

• Loveland—$536,725

• Johnstown—$477,507

• Wellington—$472,000

• Greeley—$437,250

Featured Property For Sale With

Assumable Mortgage

June 2026 Update: Barrett Financial Group is now partnered with Roam to help buyers pre-qualify for assumable loans—and for gap financing when needed.

That means buyers who don’t have the full cash difference between the purchase price and assumable balance may be able to use a second mortgage to bridge the gap. The strategy: lock in the low-rate first mortgage, then prioritize paying off the higher-rate second.

Example: 562 Vicot Wy

Purchase price: $619,900Assumable balance: $415,015 @ 2.7%Cash down: $120,000Gap financing: $84,885 @ 8.5%

Blended rate: 3.58%

Pay off the second loan, and you’re back to a 2.7% mortgage.