Colorado ended the year with the lowest monthly unemployment rate in nearly five and a half years. The jobless rate dipped to 4 percent in Dec, down from 4.8 percent in December 2005.

Will this great job market translate into a stronger real estate market?

If I were a betting man....I would have to wager an emphatic YES!

Admittedly, as the President of Colorado HomeFinder, the state's most popular real estate site, I have an inherent bias toward being bullish on Colorado real estate.

That said, Colorado HomeFinder acts an online barometer for the state's real estate market. Thousands of folks visit our site every day to check out Colorado homes for sale.

And our barometer indicates that 2007 is off to a very good start for the Colorado real estate market and Lochbuie.

Traffic to our site surged right after the New Year and the momentum is building as we move into the spring (despite the bitter cold and snow we're still enduring!). Our daily visits and traffic to the site was up over 30% in Jan. Folks are staying longer on the site too as they really dive into researching the market and look for the right home.

My take - many buyers are tired of sitting on the sidelines waiting for the bubble to burst....they are beginning to feel that the worst may already be behind us in the housing market, and that the good deals to be had now in the dark of the Winter may not be there later this Spring and Summer. Interest rates are good and they're jobs are secure.

Admittedly, markets out on the Plains or the outskirts where homes only a few years old are competing with new construction are a long way from being out of the woods.

However, we are already seeing distinct market up-ticks in more central core markets with unique home inventories. For example, Silver Peaks, and Belle Vista homes for sale.

We're 3 months into 2007, but I predict that many of the bubble pushers and real estate dooms-dayers will be "adjusting" their predictions here shortly.

With the jobless rate so low in Colorado...something eventually has to give in the real estate market, and I don't think it will involve a bursting of any kind.

Lane Hornung