With 2023 in the rear view, the Zonda Advisory team, including chief advisory officer Tim Sullivan and principal Mollie Carmichael, recently analyzed data from over 900 master-planned communities across the country to determine the 10 top-selling master plans of last year.
The following list showcases the top communities by sales only and features developments scattered across the “smile states,” including five in Florida, two in Texas, two in Nevada, and one in California.
Per Zonda’s findings, here are the top 10 communities by sales in 2023 with some additional insight and data from Carmichael.
1. The Villages
Location: Lady Lake, Florida
2023 Total Sales: 3,029
Carmichael comments: “It’s an inland location, so that allows for great affordability and it has amenities like Disneyland. It has 53 golf courses. There’s three central retail centers. There is music every single day in those squares at 3 p.m., multimodal trails, and it is all age-restricted.”
2. Lakewood Ranch
Location: Lakewood Ranch, Florida
2023 Total Sales: 2,257
Carmichael comments: “If you haven’t been to Lakewood Ranch, you have to get out there. The entire community will make up just under 50,000 homes. There’s 19 different villages. There’s 50 neighborhoods selling today, mostly under $500,000. So again, very affordable with a lot of lifestyle choices.”
3. Sunterra
Location: Katy, Texas
2023 Total Sales: 1,293
Carmichael comments: “This is one of the unique of the top 10. There is just under 6,000 homes. Most of their price points are extremely affordable. It’s also one of the only master plans that doesn’t have any attached. There’s 30 neighborhoods, mostly under $330,000. So, all single-family detached at extremely affordable price points in a great location for a Houston market.”
4. Summerlin
Location: Las Vegas
2023 Total Sales: 1,090
Carmichael comments: “This continues to be in the top 10. It’s very well designed and has an excellent team driving the many villages throughout. It has multiple villages with 33 different neighborhoods selling today. It’s a magnet for California residents, especially because it’s a no-tax state. It’s highly amenitized with all kinds of different golf courses. It definitely is an ‘A’ location, if you’re going to live in Las Vegas.”
5. Bridgeland
Location: Cypress, Texas
2023 Total Sales: 985
Carmichael comments: “Again, another one with many different villages and 35 active product lines. They have affordable price points with over 20 product lines starting from the $300,000s and $400,000s. Homes are primarily 1,500 to 2,500 square feet. You’re going to see that trend among all of the top 10, and it’s also very consistent with our consumer research.”
6. Ontario Ranch
Location: Ontario, California
2023 Total Sales: 983
Carmichael comments: “This isn’t a typical master plan. Many of these small villages have been sold off to builders, and those builders have managed to build what we would reference as a village. There’s about 15,000 homes in the whole community. There are several different villages with all kinds of different lifestyles, and it’s really serving as an affordable play if you don’t want to move outside of California.”
7. Cadence
Location: Henderson, Nevada
2023 Total Sales: 964
Carmichael comments: “They have planned just over 15,000 homes, and I would tell you this is a very affordable price point for Las Vegas as well. Prices start in the mid-$200,000s to the mid-$300,000s, and they’ve got 25 actively selling product lines. It’s again another affordable location for Californians to come in with no income tax.”
8. Babcock Ranch
Location: Punta Gorda, Florida
2023 Total Sales: 958
Carmichael comments: “This is by far one of my favorite master plans over the last decade. They have almost 20,000 homes planned here. It’s so neat to watch this completely evolve into this really great place. Most of the products are starting in the $400,000s or below. Like The Villages, they really brought that coastal feel to an inland location.”
9. Silverleaf
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
2023 Total Sales: 902
Carmichael comments: “I had the pleasure of visiting Silverleaf in the last couple of months, and this is another great master plan that’s building out. One of the keys to success on this one is they have a low to no HOA. They have planned out close to 20,000 homes with 31 actively selling product lines. They have a retail center that’s coming in and quite a bit of office space coming in.”
10. Wellen Park
Location: Venice, Florida
2023 Total Sales: 870
Carmichael comments: “I want to be honest I did not love West Villages in its original form, and Rick Severance and his team completely transformed it. It’s now Wellen Park. They have a huge retail center that’s really brought this place to life. It was largely age-targeted and age-restricted, and they now really diversified this with a lot more family segmentation. The homes are mostly sized under 2,500 square feet, and the amenities are fantastic.”
For more U.S. master plan rankings, with further data on sales, starts, and closings, stay tuned for Zonda’s MPC 100 coming in February.
