Master-Planned Communities displayed a remarkable outperformance compared to the broader new home market, with sales in the Top 50 MPCs improving by nearly 3% over mid-2025, despite the economic uncertainty and affordability challenges that continue to plague the broader market.
BETHESDA, Md., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, an advisory firm focused on the real estate industry, has released the results of their bi-annual survey of the top-selling master-planned communities (MPCs) of mid-year 2026. The survey shows that new home sales among the 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities increased by 3% compared to the pace set in early 2025.
“Despite the headwinds which impacted the broader new home market through the first half of 2026, Master-Planned Communities remained a ‘haven’ for consumers amid elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty,” said Karl Pischke, Principal at RCLCO.
Key takeaways from this year’s results include:
- New home sales among the 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities rose nearly 3% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, a strong outperformance relative to the national home market.
- Economic uncertainty, weak consumer sentiment, and continued affordability challenges are contributing to a slower new home market, with new home sales nationally declining 5.6% YoY in June.
- The Villages is once again estimated to remain the top-selling community in the nation as it continues to attract retiree buyers to Central Florida.
- Sarasota, Florida’s Lakewood Ranch claims the number two spot overall with 1,064 sales and remains the top-selling multigenerational community in the country through the first half of the year.
- In addition to Sarasota, Southwest Florida continues to impact the rankings, with Venice, Florida’s Wellen Park earning the third-place rank with 727 sales through the mid-year, and Punta Gorda, Florida’s Babcock Ranch coming in fourth place with 659 sales. Both communities saw significant outperformance compared to last year, with homes sales increasing by 37% and 28%, respectively.
- The Houston MSA is once again the top-performing metropolitan area with 9 communities in the Top 50, representing 3,049 sales, or 16% of all sales among ranked MPCs.
- The state of Florida represents 44% of sales among ranked communities, followed by Texas at 31%.
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 and master-planned community developers throughout the country. The ranking is based on new home contracts, net of cancellations, as reported by each individual community and establishes updated rankings from the previously released 2025 report. This initiative exists not only 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 Gregg Logan, Managing Director at RCLCO.
About RCLCO Real Estate Consulting
Since 1967, RCLCO has been 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, San Francisco, New York, Orlando, and Washington, DC and offers an array of consulting services across real estate economics and management consulting. Learn more at www.rclco.com
SOURCE RCLCO
