Episode 02
Relocating to El Paso · 15 min read
Hi, my name is John Peña with Peña El Paso Realty Group. We are so excited in this episode to feature one of our premier neighborhood locations, Enchanted Hills and Desert Springs. This is a phenomenal housing development on the west side of El Paso, as you can see with
fantastic views. We're located just north of 375 and just east of Interstate 10. So this is a growing community, relatively new, that right now there's about 1,000 homes that were built more or less in that last eight to nine years.
And as you're going to see, there are a number of reasons why these homes are very desirable for buyers, for sellers that are already in this community, I'm sure loving it. So we wanted to kind of showcase this area and share with you why we love Enchanted Hills. One of the things that I love about Enchanted Hills is its proximity to the Franklin
Mountains. And literally from your doorway, you can access the Franklin Mountain trails. This is a trail that I run on all the time. I've recently really gotten into trail running.
But whether you're doing that, whether you're looking to do some hiking, whether you want to do some mountain biking or just walk the dogs, this is a fantastic location because literally Enchanted Hills is right here. We're at the end of Enchanted Hills Road right now.
You can basically go this way in about two miles. You're going to hit the Tom Mays Franklin Mountain State Park, where basically you have access to all of the trails, whether you want to go north towards Las Cruces, whether you want to head east and you can go over the Franklin Mountains to the east side, or whether
you want to head south, you can get to Lost Dog Trail, Kern, Scenic Drive. And so if you're into fitness or just kind of the beauty of the mountains, I guess this is a really fantastic area because you are literally steps from the Franklin Mountains access.
Here in Enchanted Hills, you can find homes that were built from 2014 all the way to new construction. Actually, this is one of the few places on the west side that you can still find new homes.
The average size home here is going to be around 2,100 square feet. Last year, 2022, the average sales price was about $345,000, which is about $162 a square foot. Now one of the advantages of being in this community is homes are going to be a little
bit bigger and then you're going to find a lot more homes with three car garage as well. I am standing here at a pickleball court in this beautiful gated community called Encore. Now this community was intended at the beginning to be a 55 and up community, but they decided to scratch that idea and now anybody can be in this beautiful gated community.
So if you currently live in Enchanted Hills, it's likely that, you know, one of the downsides is that it's not all that easy to get out of. Right now, really the only way to get out is to either take Bluff Creek, which spits you out at 375 and then you have to navigate to where you want to go, or you take Enchanted
Springs and you have to go north along Interstate 10, and so that's not really all that convenient right now. However, there are plans in the near future. I found something online that talked about 2025, and it suggests that they are going
to actually complete some of the roads to make access into and out of Enchanted Hills much easier. For instance, I'm standing right now where Ressler dead ends in Enchanted Hills, but behind me is where Ressler starts back up again and continues all the way through the
west side. Once they connect where I'm standing right now in Enchanted Hills with Ressler right there, it's going to be so much easier for people to get in and out of here. They'll likely also do the same with Northwestern, and I saw plans where they're actually thinking
about doing the same thing with a road that doesn't exist yet just east of here. One of the things that's still kind of in Enchanted Hills' future is better access, making it easier for the folks who live here to get to the places that they want to get to.
One of the great things about this neighborhood is its close proximity to all kinds of amenities. You have a hospital, it's called Province Hospital, pretty close by. You have a bunch of different shopping centers. You got the Owlet Shopping Center right across the freeway.
You have another shopping center called Canyons at Cimarron, and you have another shopping center right by Paseo del Norte. Now in there you're going to find all kinds of stores. You have a Walmart Supercenter, you have a Ross, you even have a movie theater.
So all kinds of stores and amenities are going to be pretty close by to the neighborhood. Now the other great thing about this neighborhood, it's a school district. We are technically what is called the Canutillo School District, and it's one of the highest rated school districts right here in El Paso.
So what's in store for the future of Enchanted Hills? In one word, growth essentially, and as you can see behind me, basically there's a lot of new homes being built in this area. Currently that development is kind of going north, kind of paralleling Interstate 10.
There's going to be a lot of new builds in this. Some of the builders we know are going to be in here, Icon, Zia, Desert View, LEH to name a few. So this is going to continue to be I think a very favorable location for new construction.
The location is great, the mountain views are awesome. Just kind of on a little side note if you're interested, the land between Enchanted Hills now and the Franklin Mountains, that land is actually currently owned by the city of El Paso, and so it remains to be seen what's going to happen exactly with that land.
But like I said, it's safe to say that in the near future here, there's going to be a lot of beautiful new homes built in Enchanted Hills. So thank you so much for checking out our little showcase of this amazing area. Like we mentioned in the beginning, for us as a real estate company, this is one of our
preferred premier neighborhood locations as we like to call it. And what that means is not only do we want to help buyers find homes in this area, but even more so, we want to be a resource for the homeowners in Enchanted Hills. We want to bring as much value to you as we can.
So you're going to see stuff from us in your mail, maybe on your doors, and you're going to see our smiling faces in your neighborhoods. And so if there's anything that we can do for you as homeowners in this beautiful area, please consider reaching out to us.
And other than that, we hope that you've found some value in this episode and in the channel in general. If you haven't done so already, please consider subscribing to the YouTube channel Living in El Paso, Texas, and we'll see you in the next episode.
Enchanted Hills is a newer neighborhood in northwest El Paso's 79911, sitting between the Franklin Mountains and the Interstate 10 corridor just north of Cimarron Canyon. In the twelve months ending July 29, 2026, 134 homes sold here at a median price of $379,975, or about $185 per square foot. That is roughly 44 percent more house per dollar than neighboring Cimarron Canyon, in the same school district, a mile away. It is one of the fastest-moving neighborhoods on the west side, with under three months of inventory.
| Metric | Enchanted Hills (incl. Desert Springs) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold, past 12 months | 134 | El Paso MLS, 12 months ending July 29, 2026 |
| Median sale price | $379,975 | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Sale price range | $287,500 - $644,030 | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Median price per sq ft (sold) | $185 | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Median size sold | 2,139 sq ft | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Sold under $400,000 | 75 of 134 | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 100% median | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Homes for sale now | 32, from $310,000 to $649,950 | El Paso MLS, July 29, 2026 |
| Months of inventory | 2.9 | El Paso MLS, same period |
| Year built range | 2013 - 2026 | El Paso MLS |
For live listings inside the neighborhood boundary, refreshed hourly, see the Enchanted Hills neighborhood page.
Most pages about this neighborhood quote only what is currently for sale. That is 32 homes. The 134 that actually sold are the market, and they tell a different story, so that is what this guide is built on.
Enchanted Hills sits in ZIP 79911 in northwest El Paso, on the far west side, roughly a mile north of Cimarron Canyon. The neighborhood is bounded on the west by North Desert Boulevard, the Interstate 10 frontage, and on the east by Resler Drive, with Hunter Foster Drive across the north end and Dewberry Drive at the south. Transmountain Road (Loop 375) is immediately south, and the Franklin Mountains rise directly to the east.
So it sits in both worlds at once: up against the mountains, and on the I-10 corridor. That combination is the practical case for living here. You get the range at the end of the street and an interstate on-ramp a few minutes away.
Two things buyers get wrong about the footprint:
It is bigger than the Enchanted-named streets. Of the 59 streets in this neighborhood, only 32 begin with "Enchanted." The rest carry names like Moon Loft, Eagle Vista, Red Cedar, Rocky Terrace, Big Mountain, Small Mountain, Glacier, Sandstone, Thawline, Wolf Creek, Mundy Creek and Dewberry. Moon Loft alone accounts for as much activity as any Enchanted-named street. If a search only looks for "Enchanted," it misses close to half the neighborhood.
Desert Springs is part of it. Desert Springs is the adjacent Desert View Homes community, and in practice it is one contiguous neighborhood with Enchanted Hills, on the same streets and in the same schools. It is not a separate place to shop. More on how the two differ in price below.
There is also an "Enchanted Hills" in Anthony, New Mexico and another in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Both are unrelated markets that share the name.
Across 134 sales in the twelve months ending July 29, 2026:
| Sale price | Homes sold |
|---|---|
| Under $300,000 | 4 |
| $300,000 - $350,000 | 30 |
| $350,000 - $400,000 | 41 |
| $400,000 - $450,000 | 29 |
| $450,000 - $500,000 | 20 |
| $500,000 - $600,000 | 8 |
| $600,000 and above | 2 |
The median was $379,975. Sizes ran from 1,404 to 3,403 square feet, with a median of 2,139, and the median sale worked out to $185 per square foot.
The pricing discipline here is unusual. The median home sold for exactly its asking price. Nineteen of the 134 sold for more than asking, 77 sold at asking, and the rest closed below. When homes are priced correctly in this neighborhood, they get their number.
On the top of the market, two facts belong together. Asking prices have reached $950,000, on a large custom resale currently under contract. But no home in Enchanted Hills has closed above $650,000 in the past year. The highest verified sale was $644,030. Only two sales cleared $600,000 at all. So the upper end is being tested rather than established, and a buyer looking above $650,000 is shopping ahead of the neighborhood's proven range.
As of July 29, 2026 there were 32 homes on the market, from $310,000 to $649,950, median asking $439,950, or $189 per square foot.
One detail worth more than the price range: every single one of those 32 is a finished, standing house. None are in permit, slab, or drywall stage. If you need to walk through a home and close on a normal timeline, all 32 are available to you.
The current listings have been on the market a median of 50 days. Set against 11.2 sales per month, that leaves 2.9 months of inventory, which is a seller's market by any standard measure.
These neighborhoods are a mile apart, share the Franklin Mountains, and feed the same Canutillo ISD schools. Both columns below come from the same MLS over the same twelve months, measured the same way, because that is the only way the comparison means anything.
| Enchanted Hills | Cimarron Canyon | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold, past 12 months | 134 | 68 |
| Median sale price | $379,975 | $556,950 |
| Median price per sq ft (sold) | $185 | $266 |
| Median size sold | 2,139 sq ft | 2,303 sq ft |
| Sold under $400,000 | 75 of 134 | 0 of 68 |
| Sold above asking | 19 of 134 | 5 of 68 |
| Homes for sale now | 32 | 37 |
| Of those, finished and standing | 32 | 23 |
| Months of inventory | 2.9 | 6.5 |
| Highest sale in 12 months | $644,030 | $1,524,584 |
El Paso MLS, twelve months ending July 29, 2026. Cimarron Canyon here means the Cimarron Canyon subdivision specifically; the wider Cimarron master plan is covered in our Cimarron El Paso guide.
Three things fall out of that table.
A dollar goes 44 percent further here. $185 per square foot against $266. The median homes are within 164 square feet of each other, and $176,975 apart in price.
Enchanted Hills is the faster market, by a lot. 134 sales against 68, and 2.9 months of inventory against 6.5. Cimarron Canyon currently has more homes listed than Enchanted Hills while selling half as many. One in seven sales here goes above asking, against one in fourteen there.
They are different products, not two price points of the same thing. Cimarron Canyon is predominantly a new-construction market: 118 of its 174 listings over the year were builder listings, and 14 of its 37 current listings are homes not yet built. Enchanted Hills is predominantly resale, with real new construction inside it. That mix explains part of the price gap, which is why price per square foot is the fairer comparison than the headline median.
What Cimarron Canyon genuinely has that Enchanted Hills does not: the Canyons at Cimarron retail village, which makes it one of the only walkable neighborhoods in El Paso, and a true luxury tier, having sold above $1.5 million in the past year. Enchanted Hills has never sold above $650,000. If walkable shops or a home above $700,000 are what you want, Cimarron Canyon earns its premium.
Enchanted Hills is still actively building. Fifty-seven of the 203 listings over the past year were new-home listings, and 49 of the 134 sales were new construction, better than one in three. The neighborhood spans homes built from 2013 through 2026.
Construction splits along Hunter Foster Drive. South of it is largely finished, so a buyer there moves onto a settled street. Most active building is north of Hunter Foster.
Builder names recorded on listings here over the past year include Desert View Homes, which appears most often by a wide margin, along with Zia Homes, Edwards Homes, ICON Custom Builder, Pointe Homes, Cullers Homes, JMAR Construction, Classic American Homes, Winton Flair Homes and LEH Luxury Homes. Custom builders are active in the area. Builders rotate by phase, so confirm who is delivering in which unit before planning around one.
One practical note: only 3 of the 32 current listings are new homes. Builder inventory in this neighborhood often sells directly without ever appearing on the MLS, so if you are shopping new construction, walking the builder communities will show you more than any listing site can.
The land follows the same model as most El Paso growth areas. Hunt owns and develops it, then sells finished lots to whichever builders choose to build.
Within this one contiguous area there are two tiers, and knowing which one you are shopping matters:
| Homes sold | Median sale | Median $/sq ft | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enchanted Hills | 61 | $400,995 | $186 |
| Desert Springs | 71 | $370,256 | $183 |
El Paso MLS, twelve months ending July 29, 2026.
Desert Springs is the older and more affordable half, topping out at $495,000 over the past year, and it is where most of the entry-level inventory sits. Enchanted Hills proper runs higher and holds the entire upper end. Same schools, same setting, same access.
Enchanted Hills is Canutillo ISD, not EPISD. Current assignment is Congressman Silvestre Reyes Elementary, Alderete Middle and Canutillo High, the same three schools that serve Cimarron Canyon.
The bigger development is being built inside the neighborhood. Canutillo ISD is constructing a new Deanna Davenport Elementary campus in the Enchanted Hills subdivision: a $73.9 million, 119,000 square foot school with 36 classrooms serving Pre-K through 5th grade, funded through the district's 2024 bond. Groundbreaking was October 2025 and completion is expected in 2027. The campus is relocating from the Westway community.
When Davenport opens, neighborhood elementary students would most likely shift to the new campus rather than commuting to Reyes. The district sets final attendance boundaries, so treat that as the likely outcome rather than settled, and confirm your specific address with Canutillo ISD before buying on school assignment.
Most of Enchanted Hills is not governed by a neighborhood-wide HOA. For buyers who would rather skip the dues and the exterior design review, that is a real difference from Cimarron Canyon, which is a managed community with a charter.
The exception is Encore, a small gated enclave inside the area with its own HOA at about $100 per month as of July 2026, including a pickleball court. If you are outside Encore, still confirm HOA status for your specific subdivision and unit during the option period.
Enchanted Hills currently has only two ways in and out, serving more than 600 homes. At school drop-off and afternoon rush that is noticeable, and it is the most common complaint from people who live here.
There is a funded fix. The City of El Paso has a roughly $19.3 million project to extend Resler Drive north from Transmountain (Loop 375) to Dewberry Drive, adding a third connection as a four-lane divided road with sidewalks and pedestrian upgrades. The extension was requested by the Enchanted Hills neighborhood and is funded through the 2022 Community Progress Bond. It was in design as of the city's October 2025 public meeting, and city construction records for the Resler extension registered in May 2026 show work scheduled through early 2027.
If you are buying to hold, a third access point plus a new elementary school inside the neighborhood is a meaningful infrastructure story landing over the next couple of years. If you are moving in now, expect the current access to feel tight and expect construction traffic while the extension is built.
What is walkable here is the outdoors. The neighborhood is built against the Franklin Mountains, with hike-and-bike trails running into the range and parks and walking trails inside the community. Facing west off the edge of the Franklins, the evening views are a real perk rather than a marketing line.
Everything else is a drive. Day-to-day shopping, restaurants and the Canyons at Cimarron are about five minutes by car. The Hospitals of Providence west campus is just south near Transmountain and Resler. Both I-10 and Transmountain are quick to reach, which makes this an easy neighborhood to commute from, whether you are crossing the west side or heading toward Fort Bliss.
Said plainly: Enchanted Hills residents drive to much of what Cimarron Canyon residents can walk to. That is the trade for the price, and we would rather say it than borrow the neighbor's walkability story.
It fits buyers who want a newer home against the Franklin Mountains without Cimarron Canyon's pricing, who want more square footage per dollar, who would rather not pay HOA dues, and who value quick I-10 and Transmountain access. With 75 of 134 sales under $400,000, it is one of the few remaining west-side neighborhoods where that budget still buys a newer home. First-time buyers, value-minded move-up buyers, and relocating and military families are all well represented.
It is a harder fit if walkable shops and restaurants are non-negotiable, if you are shopping above $650,000 where the neighborhood has no closed sales to support pricing, or if a two-exit neighborhood at rush hour would wear on you before the Resler extension opens.
Browse every area we cover on the El Paso neighborhoods index, or see how this corner compares to the rest of the west side in the Westside El Paso neighborhood guide.
Northwest El Paso, ZIP 79911, between the Franklin Mountains and the Interstate 10 corridor, about a mile north of Cimarron Canyon. It is bounded roughly by North Desert Boulevard on the west, Resler Drive on the east, Hunter Foster Drive to the north and Dewberry Drive to the south, with Transmountain Road (Loop 375) just south.
134 homes sold in the twelve months ending July 29, 2026, from $287,500 to $644,030, with a median of $379,975 and a median of $185 per square foot. Seventy-five of those 134 sales were under $400,000. Homes currently for sale run $310,000 to $649,950.
Substantially. Over the same twelve months the median sale in Enchanted Hills was $379,975 against $556,950 in Cimarron Canyon, and $185 per square foot against $266. That is about 44 percent more house per dollar. Seventy-five Enchanted Hills sales were under $400,000; Cimarron Canyon had none.
Yes. It averaged 11.2 sales a month over the past year against 32 homes currently listed, which is 2.9 months of inventory. The median home sold for exactly its asking price, and 19 of 134 sold above asking.
Yes. Homes range from 2013 to 2026 construction, and 49 of the past year's 134 sales were new homes. Most current building is north of Hunter Foster Drive. Note that builder inventory frequently sells direct without listing on the MLS, so listing sites understate how much new construction is available.
Asking prices have reached $950,000 on a large custom resale, but no home has closed above $650,000 in the past twelve months, and only two sales cleared $600,000. Buyers shopping above that range are ahead of the neighborhood's proven pricing.
Canutillo ISD: Congressman Silvestre Reyes Elementary, Alderete Middle and Canutillo High. A new $73.9 million Deanna Davenport Elementary campus is under construction inside the Enchanted Hills subdivision, with completion expected in 2027. Confirm your specific address with the district, since attendance boundaries are set by Canutillo ISD.
Most of the neighborhood is not under a blanket HOA. One gated enclave, Encore, has its own HOA at about $100 per month as of July 2026, with a pickleball court. Confirm HOA status for your specific subdivision and unit during the option period.
Today there are only two ways in and out for more than 600 homes, which can feel tight at peak times. The city has a funded roughly $19.3 million project to extend Resler Drive from Transmountain to Dewberry Drive and add a third connection, with four lanes and sidewalks. It was in design as of October 2025 and city construction records registered in May 2026 show work scheduled through early 2027.
Effectively yes, though not the same price. Desert Springs is the adjacent Desert View Homes community and part of the same contiguous area, sharing streets and schools. Over the past year Desert Springs sold at a median of $370,256 and topped out at $495,000, while Enchanted Hills proper sold at a median of $400,995 and holds the upper end.
Like most El Paso growth areas, Hunt owns and develops the land, then sells finished lots to whichever builders choose to build there. It is the same model as Cimarron Canyon.
Relocating to El Paso
A complete guide to El Paso's school districts, top-rated public schools, private options, and charter schools - with neighborhood context to help relocating families choose the right area.
Relocating to El Paso
A data-driven breakdown of El Paso's cost of living including housing, utilities, taxes, and groceries. Real numbers from GEPAR FlexMLS for 2026 relocators.
Relocating to El Paso
A data-driven comparison of East and West El Paso neighborhoods, home prices, schools, and commute times - with real GEPAR FlexMLS figures for 2026.