Top-selling master planned communities

By Thomas B. Shea / For the Houston Chronicle

Houston-area communities dominated a list of top-selling master planned communities across the United States in 2012, according to a report by real estate advisory firm RCLCO.

Eight communities made the top 20 list, which is based on total home sales reported by each community. New homes sales totaled 14,287 in the 20 communities in 2012, with nearly a third of them in the Houston area. Sales in the top 20 are up by more than 37 percent for the year.

New home sales increased by more than 25 percent overall in the Houston area, although the rate of increase was lower in some mature communities such as The Woodlands and Cinco Ranch as they approach build-out. Those communities are reducing the sales volume in many lower price points while increasing the number of homes sold in the upper price points, the report said.

Communities in states recovering from the housing bust including Nevada, Florida and California made the list. Texas saw increases in sales and pricing at many communities during a year of solid job growth and declining lot inventories at mature communities, the report said.

TOP 20

Ranking of U.S. communities by new home sales in 2012:

The Villages (Ocala, Fla.) 2,851
Irvine Ranch (Orange County, Calif.) 1,436
The Woodlands (Houston) 1,007
Cinco Ranch (Houston) 982
Mountain's Edge (Las Vegas) 948
Providence (Las Vegas) 760
Riverstone (Houston) 605
Alamo Ranch (San Antonio) 583
Lakewood Ranch ( Sarasota, Fla.) 573
Nocatee (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) 508
Stapleton (Denver) 507
Summerlin (Las Vegas) 471
Brambleton (Washington, D.C.) 466
Lake Nona (Orlando) 441
Bridgeland ( Houston) 423
Sienna Plantation ( Houston) 387
Shadow Creek Ranch ( Houston) 362
FishHawk Ranch (Tampa) 362
Woodforest (Houston) 308
Telfair (Houston) 307