Metrostudy?s top 20 master planned communities

Metrostudy came out with its mid-year list of top master planned communities in the country, and Texas –– specifically Houston –– remains the hottest market.

Seven of the Top 20 Master Planned Communities around the country were located in the Houston market, with San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth also gaining recognition on the list ranked by Annual Starts and as reported by Metrostudy’s quarterly lot-by-lot survey.

Aside from the healthier job and local economies within the state, other characteristics of these top MPCs predominantly share is: close proximity to employment centers and services, open space, walk-able amenities, town centers, and themed lifestyles. Additionally, these communities are well established with a known brand, and offer a diverse selection of price points, appealing to most homebuyer segments.

Highlights include:

• Outside of Texas, there were three communities from Florida, two in Nevada, two in California, with Utah, Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado each including one community on the list.

• The Villages remains the top MPC in the country with 2,374 annual new home starts through 2Q11. This accounted for approximately 38 percent of all start production in the Central Florida market. This was the highest single market capture rate among the communities, followed by Daybreak in Salt Lake City, Utah with 28 percent, Woodbury with 19 percent of Orange County, California and Alamo Ranch with 19 percent of San Antonio, Texas.

• 10 of the 20 MPCs started more homes during the past 12 months compared to the previous 12 months.

• Four of the communities on the list are less than 15 percent away from build-out (Woodlands, Sienna Plantation, Portola Springs, & Cinco Ranch).

• Four developers had two MPCs on the list each. Newland Communities (Houston), The Irvine Company (Southern California), Focus Property Group (Las Vegas, and Johnson Development (Houston).

For more information: www.metrostudyreport.com/national-housing-market/top-20-master-planned-communities