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The 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities in 2020 experienced total sales about 20% higher than in 2019, and communities in this year’s Top-50 report for which sales data was available in 2019 had an average increase in sales of 40% in 2020! Sales within the Top-10 MPCs were over 12% higher than their 2019 counterparts. The Villages, with 2,452 home sales, is once again ranked as the top-selling community in the country. Sarasota, Florida’s Lakewood Ranch claimed the second overall spot, which also represents the top-selling all-ages community in the country. Las Vegas, Nevada’s Summerlin, Venice, Florida’s Wellen Park (formerly West Villages), and Salt Lake City, Utah’s Daybreak make up the remaining Top-5 communities.
In our Year-End 2019 issue of RCLCO’s Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities Report, we reported that the demand for new homes in master planned communities was strong and growing, and that we believed 2020 and beyond would be excellent years for MPC sales and marketing. Of course at that time none of us knew that within the first quarter of 2020 we would be in the midst of a global pandemic that would usher in an economic recession. Despite lockdown orders and a drop in consumer sentiment the housing market recovered quickly as indicated in our Mid-Year 2020 issue of RCLCO’s Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities Report. At that time we reported sales among the Top-50 MPCs were 7% higher than those communities which made up the list in the prior year. The degree to which the strong pace of sales could be attributed specifically to impacts of COVID-19 was unknown at the time. Now with greater insight and a full year of data we can see that it was the significant acceleration of existing trends that has driven strong new housing demand, including demand for homes within master-planned communities. Those key trends include demographic shifts, low interest rates and very low levels of resale inventory which combined have dramatically boosted new home demand. These factors have had more overall impact than COVID-19 concerns in driving the market, although the pandemic has clearly encouraged some buyers to act sooner to obtain the housing they desire.
Florida and Texas together account for about 63% of total sales among the 50 top-selling communities. Florida continues to dominate the top five of the list, with The Villages, Lakewood Ranch, and Wellen Park in the first, second, and fourth spots, respectively. Among metropolitan areas, the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA ranks as the top-selling area, both in terms of total communities within the Top-50 (eight MPCs), as well as total sales with over 5,000 homes sold among the 50 top-selling MPCs.
