Where’s the best place to build a master-planned community? Try Florida.
Earlier this month, RCLCO Real Estate Advisors released its ranking of the top selling master-planned communities around the country. Once again, The Villages, with 2,134 home sales, is the top-selling community in the country, topping out the list even with a 4% decline in sales from 2017.
Among the top 10 best-selling neighborhoods were Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota, Fla., at No. 2 with a 23% increase in sales from 2017, West Villages in Venice, Fla., (No 5.), and Nocatee in Ponte Verda, Fla., (No. 7), for a total of four. Overall, 11 of the top 50 master plans were located in Florida. Master plans in Las Vegas, California, Arizona, and Denver also made appearances on the top 10 list.
Communities in Texas, Florida, and California account for 68% of total sales among the 50 top-selling communities, with the share of total sales in other states remaining at about 32% since 2017.
While the volume of sales from the Top-10 MPCs has never fully recovered to pre-recession levels, nationally, sales for new single-family homes in the 12 months trailing October 2018 were up by 2% over 2017 totals. Communities on the 2018 Top-Selling Master-Planned Community (MPC) List experienced average growth of approximately 5% over their totals in 2017 for those that were previously ranked.
Here are the top 15 best selling master plans. View RCLCO’s full list of the fifty best selling master planned communities here.
Master planned communities are successful for their range of home types and ability to appeal to a range of buyers and incomes. In its report, RCLCO notes:
RCLCO’s 2018 Housing and Community Preference Survey indicates there is demand for a broader range of home types and sizes than is currently being offered, though builders give many reasons why they cannot meet the demand for lower-priced, entry-level homes. These findings, along with the demonstrated decline in total sales in the top-selling communities following the Great Recession, suggests that MPCs have an opportunity to diversify product types and homes sizes to expand market share. MPCs that have consistently achieved the highest sales have credited their market segmentation strategy–the targeting of a wide range of age, income, and household segments with appropriately priced and designed residential product types and lifestyle amenities–as a key ingredient of their success.
With waning affordability, offering diverse home types will help to make sure buyers keep purchasing in master plans. While the pace of home price increases has already started to slow, it’s not enough to draw in the number of buyers needed to maintain 2018’s sales pace through this year. Economists don’t expect a recession until at least after 2020, but high prices and higher interest rates will continue to dampen the pace of sales if builders don’t offer mix of housing types at more affordable prices.
Read more from RCLCO’s research about the top selling states and regions here.
