Hi NYC Transplant:

Sunshine Canyon is a great place to live. And the commute usually is not bad, even in the winter. Boulder County does a great job of keeping the road clear, partly because this is a school bus route. Additionally, the canyon has few high walls, so the sun helps complete the job by melting remaining snow on the road. You might, however, want to consider how far up the Canyon you would like to live. The curves do slow you down some but you never have the traffic of even a modest commute in NYC.

Personally, I lived on Sunshine Canyon Drive for 12 years and loved every minute of it. My family recently moved to Pine Brook Hills and we love our new mountain community as well. Pine Brook offers smaller lots, but has its own water system. Natural gas lines are in and fire hydrants offer an additional level of safety. Not maintaining a water well and a propane tank are real advantages.

Both Sunshine and Pine Brook have great volunteer fire departments and the neighbors are exceptional in both places. If you want to learn a bit more about Pine Brook, use the web reference below to visit my website about this community.

Prices have held up well in both areas during recent years, though the number of mountain home sales have dropped in Boulder County. According to figures from the local Realtors® Association, average prices in the mountains have dropped 6.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. However, the median home price fell just 1.4 percent during the same period, which could mean that people are staying away from the larger homes in favor of smaller ones. In July of this year, 24 mountain homes sold out of a total of 425 offered. This is not a great "absorption rate."

As a country, we have been through a tough period, which can make home buyers a bit less adventurous. The fact that many mountain properties, especially in Sunshine Canyon, are over $ 1 million, also hurts the market. Currently, expensive homes sell slowly no matter the location. Both of these hurdles could come down in the near future if the recovery stays on track. In the meantime, buyers like you have some leverage in negotiating prices.

Please call me if you would like additional information about either Sunshine Canyon or Pine Brook Hills.

Kind regards,
Ron Rovtar
Real Estate of the Rockies