It's a buyer's market in high-end real estate in Boulder Valley.

In the more than $1 million market, supply is up and demand down, meaning lots of choices and motivated sellers. Buyers are getting more for their money now than they have for years.

"There are some real deals out there if somebody can move," said Bill Goodacre, founder of Boulder-based Goodacre & Co. and real estate broker since 1974. "Most people are hanging on and renting their place, but when they have to sell; those are the ones that get snapped up."

Although most high-end buyers pay cash for homes - estimates from local brokers ranged from 50 percent to 90 percent - loans are still available. "I don't think financing is a problem unless you're self-employed," Goodacre said.

Scott Franklund of Legendary Properties in Boulder, who has specialized in the luxury market for 20 years, said Wells Fargo and Colorado State Bank & Trust have been aggressive on jumbo lending, but the conditions are more restrictive. "Buyers have fewer banks to choose from, and the standards are very hard to meet," he said. "Once the capital markets free up some more, we're going to see a lot more deals going down."

In the $1million to $2 million range, buyers have 246 listings to choose from in Boulder and Broomfield counties. Sales volume has been tracking downward over the past three years, making for motivated sellers. Goodacre says buyers can expect all the latest technology, gourmet kitchens and high-end fixtures. "They all have to be first-class." Views, privacy, professional landscaping, outdoor living areas and home theaters are also common features. He added that buyers are looking less at square footage than in years past.

Offerings in Boulder range from brand new downtown condos to historic landmarks and a mid-century modern home designed by renowned Boulder architect Charles Heartling reminiscent of "The Jetsons." Buyers willing to move out into the foothills and plains will get acreage and more spacious homes. Spruce Meadows, for example, a new development in Broomfield, features custom homes of 6,000 to 8,000 square feet on 1 to 3 acres, connected by shared equestrian and pedestrian trails.

"In the city, you're going to get a 4,500-square-foot home; in the county you're going to get a 7,000-square-foot home on an acre," said Franklund, speaking generally of the $1 million to $2 million market. "If you want to be in the city you're going to pay."

The "real deals" are to be had in the $2 million to $4 million range, Goodacre said. Buyers will find prime locations, more land and square footage, and superior quality in design, construction and finishes. "There's a lot of quality in this area," Goodacre said, "as good as anywhere I've seen."

Within Boulder, this price range features estates in neighborhoods that abut open space, such as Shanahan Ridge, Chautauqua, Belleview, Rose Hill, Knollwood, Newlands and Wonderland Lake. Offerings in town range from a brand-new architect designed home with green features in North Boulder to a renovated 1900s mansion on Mapleton Hill. Farther out of town, buyers will see unique listings, such as a lakefront estate in Longmont or a creek-side lodge in Eldorado Springs.

With more than 100 homes on the market, sellers are often more flexible on price. For example, a newly built home on Grant Avenue near Chautauqua was originally listed in March 2008 at $2.95 million and sold in September for $2.1 million. Another home in Niwot's Somerset Estates that sold five years ago for $2.35 million, sold again in August for a quarter-million dollars less.

The high-end market has not been immune to the foreclosure crisis. Of the 402 foreclosed properties in Boulder County so far this year, 21 had more than $900,000 in debt. This compares with 11 out of 462 in 2008. A lake-view home in Longmont that sold in 2005 for $3 million was sold this summer by the lender after foreclosure for $1.6 million.

Short sales - where a bank agrees to sell a home for less than the mortgage amount - are also on the rise. A 9,000-plus-square-foot home near Boulder Reservoir listed in July for a little less than $3.3 million finally sold in June as a short sale for a little more than $2 million.

But Karen Bernardi, owner of the Bernardi Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker and 27-year veteran of Boulder real estate, urges caution. "You can always buy an awful home at a steal. But you can't steal a good house - other people will want it. You might think you're stealing something, but it might not be a good buy when you go to sell it." She advises buyers to hire an experienced real estate broker to help them study the market. "It's a huge investment," she added.

For buyers willing to pay more than $4 million, there are 23 properties to choose from locally, including a Tuscan-style villa on 2.8 acres in downtown Boulder at the top of Arapahoe Avenue with open space as a backyard. Horse lovers can choose from a Vail-style ranch in Eldorado Springs with a river running through it; the historic Middle Fork Ranch in Lyons with 300 acres, several homes and an indoor arena; or the Autumn Hill equestrian center with its iconic yellow barn and buildings on 95 acres just north of Boulder. At $9.85 million, it's the priciest listing on the market. "You're buying a legacy, not just sticks and bricks," said Franklund, the listing broker whose daughters ride horses at Autumn Hill.

Area sales more than $4 million have been almost nonexistent during the past two years. Following three sales in 2007, there were none in all of 2008 and this year - a newly built four-bedroom, four-bath penthouse in The Walnut that sold for $5.3 million in July.

This sale marks a trend toward "new urbanism" in the high-end market. "A lot of my clients are moving from the county into the city," Franklund said. "People are very concerned about things they didn't used to be concerned about." In addition to a heightened awareness of a home's carbon footprint, buyers are also thinking about the maintenance costs of watering acres of lawn or cleaning enormous homes. Because of this, Franklund said, a home that costs $200 per square foot in the county is worth twice that in the city.

Looking to the future, most local brokers see signs that it will become less of a buyer's market. "Optimism in this area has been better in the last four months than it's been all year." With very few new home starts in the county, construction loans difficult to find and building requirements becoming more restrictive, Franklund believes homes built in the past several years will become hot items.

Bernardi has seen a recent uptick in the high-end market. "There's been a lot more activity. I think people are thinking, 'There's no safer place for our money than a high-end home in Colorado.'"