(By Dale King) HOUSTON – Texas delivered eight of John Burns Real Estate Consulting’s top 21 master planned communities in the country with strong new home sales in 2015.
And while Florida placed only four, the first- and third-place developments on the list are located in the Sunshine State – the same ones that finished in those spots in 2014.
The list also includes two developments each in California, Nevada and Arizona and one apiece in Utah, South Carolina and Colorado.
Five of the eight Texas finishers are in the Houston area, where new-home sales have outpaced the nation in recent years.
Together, the top 21 communities sold nearly 14,100 homes in 2015, around 3 percent of all new, single-family residence sales nationally. Combined sales increased by 12 percent over 2014.
The Villages in Central Florida not only took first place, it is the only community in the nation to surpass 2,000 sales in one year – and all produced by one builder/developer, Villages of Lake Sumter, LLC. A total of 2,294 homes sold at The Villages in 2015, down 12 percent from the 2,601 a year earlier.
Other Florida developments in the top 21 were: Nocatee (The PARC Group) in Jacksonville, third place, 1,105 sold in 2015, up 30 percent; Lakewood Ranch (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc.) in Sarasota, ninth place, 535 sales, up 13 percent from 2014, and Lake Nona (Tavistock Group) in Orlando, 11th place, 500 units sold, up 19 percent from 419 a year before.
Tied with Lake Nona was Westridge (D.R. Horton) in Dallas, with 500 homes sold, up 66 percent from 301 housing units in 2014.
Houston developers contributed five of the top 21 communities, led by Johnston Development’s Riverstone (fifth place), with 600 sales. The plat is a 3,700-acre master-planned community near U.S. 59 and Highway 6, The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road and Texas 288.
Others in Houston and vicinity included Aliana, by Aliana Development Co., (17th place), 443 units, Canyon Lakes West (Land Tejas Co.) and Wildwood at Northpointe (Friendswood Development Co.), both tied at 18th place, 440 units sold. Woodforest (Johnson Development Co) in Houston and Daybreak (Kennecott Land) in Salt Lake City tied for 20th place with 415 units sold at each during 2015.
While low oil prices and slowing economic growth remain concerns in Houston, lot shortages and flooding earlier in 2015 limited sales in many communities, according to the John Burns Consulting report.
Two other masterplans in Texas placed in the Top 21: Alamo Ranch in San Antonio, by Galo Properties, ranked seventh with 560 units sold, down 4 percent from 2014, and Paloma Creek in Dallas, by Providence Realty Advisors, ranked 15th with 450 units sold, up 14 percent over the previous year.
Second on the list of 21 was The Irvine Ranch (The Irvine Co.) in Orange County, Calif., 1,674 homes sold, up 17 percent from the prior year. Valencia (Five Point Communities/Newhall Land) in Los Angeles was ranked 16th with 444 units sold in 2015, down 10 percent from 2014.
The two Nevada developments on the list were Summerlin, ranked 6th, located in Las Vegas and built by the Howard Hughes Corp. A total of 602 homes were sold in 2015, up 38 percent from the previous year. Providence, also located in Las Vegas, ranked 11th and was constructed by Focus Property Group. At that location, 452 units were sold, down 7 percent from 2014.
In Arizona, Eastmark, by DMB, placed eighth with 554 homes sold in 2015, up a whopping 203 percent from the year before, and Vistancia (Vistancia Land Holdings/Stratford Land), 13th place with 466 houses sold last year, up 107 percent from 2014. Both developments are located in Phoenix.
Rounding out the list are: Stapleton (Forest City Enterprises) of Denver, fourth place, 663 units sold, up 31 percent and Cane Bay Plantation in Charlestown, S.C. (Graming Brothers Real Estate and Development), ranked 10th. A total of 520 homes were sold in 2015, up 35 percent from the previous year.
John Burns Real Estate Consulting, based in Orange County, Calif., considered more than 230 communities nationwide to identify the top 21.
Jan. 20, 2016