Florida and Texas Top RCLCO Real Estate Consulting's Mid-Year 2023 Master Planned Communities Report

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Jul 25, 2023, 08:00 ET

In the face of elevated interest rates and recession fears, RCLCO's survey shows increasing sales in Top MPCs through the first half of the year, with renewed optimism for future performance

BETHESDA, Md., July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate consulting firm RCLCO today released the results of their mid-year survey of the top-selling master-planned communities (MPCs) of 2023. The survey shows that new home sales among the 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities increased compared to the pace set by the top communities in the first half of 2022.

"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;
Sunterra in Houston, TX has earned the third-place rank with 669 sales – a 26% increase over the same time period last year;
The Houston MSA was the top-performing metropolitan area with 14 communities in the Top-50, representing over 5,000 sales, or almost 26% of all sales among ranked MPCs;
The state of Florida represented about 42% of sales among ranked communities, followed by Texas at nearly 38%.

RCLCO's national survey of master-planned communities has been conducted since 1994, and it identifies the top-selling MPCs through a rigorous search of high-performing communities. The ranking is based on total new home sales as reported by each individual community and establishes updated rankings from the previously released year-end report, The Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities of 2022. This initiative exists not only as a way to commend the most successful communities, but also as: a tool for monitoring the overall health of the for-sale housing industry; a means of locating markets with residential momentum; a process for highlighting trends affecting communities; and a medium through which to learn development best practices.

"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."

The full report is available here, and RCLCO will hold a webinar on Thursday, July 27^th at 9:15AM PT / 12:15PM ET to discuss the results. Sign up for the webinar at this link.

About RCLCO Real Estate Consulting
RCLCO is the "first call" for real estate developers, investors, the public sector, and non-real estate companies and organizations seeking strategic and tactical advice regarding property investment, planning, and development. Our team leverages quantitative analytics and a strategic planning framework to provide end-to-end business planning and implementation solutions at an entity, portfolio, or project level. With the insights and experience gained over 55 years and thousands of projects, RCLCO brings success to all product types across the United States and around the world. RCLCO has offices in Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Washington, DC, and is organized into three overlapping and reinforcing service areas: real estate economics, management consulting, and advisory services for institutional investors through RCLCO Fund Advisors. Learn more at www.rclco.com

SOURCE RCLCO