Sales Increase in Large Master-Planned Communities
(Chart courtesy of RCLCO)
New home sales in the largest master-planned communities increased by nearly 14% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to real estate consulting firm RCLCO, Bethesda, Md.
RCLCO publishes its Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities report twice a year.
“With a lack of resale home inventory, and builders willing to offer incentives, new homes in master-planned communities have remained attractive to homebuyers despite elevated interest rates throughout the year and strong but gradually slowing employment growth,” the report said.
RCLCO Managing Director Gregg Logan observed that despite minor slowing in the second half of the year, the total volume of sales realized by the top communities over the past several years has reached levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. “Master-planned communities sales, as distinct from the overall new home sales market, have the advantage that there is more demand than supply – more consumers want a home in a master-planned community than there are homes in MPC’s to meet that demand,” he said.
Although up year-over-year, sales in the second half of 2023 were about 15% lower for the year-end top-50 communities report compared to in RCLCO’s mid-year report. “This was due, in part, to somewhat lower overall employment growth in the second half of the year, mortgage rates peaking at 7.8% in October, and slower economic growth in Q4 2023,” the report said.
The Villages active-adult community in Florida’s Sumter and Marion Counties is once again the top-selling community in the nation with 3,029 sales, RCLCO reported. Sarasota, Florida’s Lakewood Ranch claimed the number two spot overall and is the top-selling multi-generational community in the country, with 2,187 sales, up 18% over the prior year.
Sunterra in Katy, Texas earned the third-place rank with 1,293 sales in 2023, a whopping 63% increase over 2022, the report said. The Houston MSA was the top-performing metropolitan area with 11 MPCs in the top 50, representing nearly 7,900 sales, or 22% of all sales among top-ranked master-planned communities.
