HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Houston leads the nation in master-planned community home sales, according to a new national home sales report, according to RCLCO real estate consulting.
RCLCO’s “Top 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities for Mid-Year 2023” report was dominated by Houston’s large-scale communities, which typically feature homes in a number of price ranges, schools, retail, churches, recreational facilities and trails.
“The Houston MSA was the top-performing metropolitan area with 14 communities in the Top 50, representing over 5,000 sales, or almost 26 percent of all sales among ranked MPCs,” RCLCO said.
Sunterra Number 3 in the Nation
Houston’s Sunterra rocketed to No. 3 master planned community in the nation by recording 669 home sales in the first half of 2023, up 49 percent from the comparable period of 2022.
Located west of Houston in both Harris and Waller counties, Sunterra is located off of Clay Road and west of the Grand Parkway in the Katy area. Sunterra is developed by Starwood Land, which is affiliated with Starwood Capital, a firm led by billionaire Barry Sternlicht.
Houston’s Best Sellers
Bridgeland, a Howard Hughes Corp. project in Northwest Houston, ranked number 6 in the nation with 511 home sales at midyear, up 59 percent from last year.
Ranking ninth nationally was Marvida, a Starwood/Land Tejas community in Cypress. Marvida had 478 home sales in the first half of the year, up 49 percent from the 320 sales in the comparable period of last year.
Other Houston area communities in the RCLCO top 50 midyear report include Caldwell Ranch, Tamarron, Breckenridge Forest, Sienna, Tavola, Baytown Crossings, Meridiana, Sierra Vista/Sterling Lakes, Cane Island, Elyson and Jordan Ranch. A number of developers have recently announced plans to build other new communities . Previously, Houston had 13 communities ranked on RCLCO’s top 50 list, before jump to 14 this year.
Master-Planned Communities remain a ‘safe haven’ for consumers amid elevated interest rates, high prices, and fears of a possible recession,” said Karl Pischke, Principal at RCLCO. “Top communities sold 7% more homes in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, when supply chain issues and limited inventories placed significant downward pressure on sales performance. High interest rates and affordability issues continue to be a concern, however most MPC respondents cited optimism for sales potential in the second half of the year.”
Key takeaways from this year’s results include:
- The Villages is once again estimated as the top-selling community in the nation based on their sales pace set in 2022;
- Lakewood Ranch claimed the number two spot overall, and is the number one selling all-ages community in the country with 1,227 sales – a 20% increase over the pace set in the first half of 2022;
“New home sales in master-planned communities represent only a fraction of total sales in the country, but the trends and patterns we see there tell us a lot about the state of the housing market overall,” said Pischke. “The continuing strength of sales shows patterns of growing demand, demographic tailwinds, and internal migration trends across the country.”
Sales among the Top-50 communities increased by 7 percent compared to the pace set in the first half of 2022, with a majority of developers optimistic about the second half of the year, RCLCO said.
“Master-Planned Communities have maintained their strong appeal for consumers despite concerns about a possible recession and elevated interest rates,” said RCLCO. “The supply chain issues and limited inventories that caused a significant decline in sales in 2022 may not be fully behind us yet, however they have had much less impact in the early months of 2023.”
July 25, 2023 Realty News Report Copyright 2023
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File: Houston Dominates US Home Niche
Image: Sienna community courtesy Johnson Development. Tim Brady