In a recent press release, Cinco Ranch was named the #2 master planned community in the United States for 2008. The ranking was tabulated by RCLCO, who has been releasing the top-selling MPC rankings since 1994, when it first undertook this effort to gain greater insight into the master-planned community industry. Cinco Ranch ranked #2, up from #6 in 2007, with 775 net sales. This is a 7% increase from it's 725 net sales the previous year.
"Master-planned communities are large-scale developments featuring a range of housing prices and styles, an array of amenities, and multiple non-residential land uses (such as commercial and educational facilities) offering residents an attractive and convenient environment in which to live, work and play. Some communities provide lifestyle options for multiple market segments, while others target a specific buyer tuype such as active adults age 55 and over.
"Each year, RCLCO invites communities accross the U.S. to participate in the survey, and in past years, a majority of the top-selling master-planned communities have generally been located in the southwestern region of the country.
"Overall, MPC's throughout the US experienced a decline in home sales and home prices in 2008. The notable exceptions were MPC's located in the Houston marketplace (5 of the 10 top perfomers), which saw increases in sales from 2007. Texas may be lagging the nation in terms of the timing and depth of decline in the housing sector however, as sales began to decline in the 4th quarter of 2008 and into the 1st quarter of 2009; Nevada and Arizona--hit early and hard by the downturn--have experienced a slight bump in sales in the first quarter of 2009."
Other top-ranking Houston area communities include The Woodlands, which ranked #3 in the survey (up from #4 last year), Telfair which ranked #6 (not ranked last year), and Sienna Plantation which ranked #8 (up from #10 last year). "RCLCO is an independent real estate advisory firm, providing market and financial analysis and strategic planning services to a broad spectum of clients including developers, corporations, financial institutions, institutional and private investors, public agencies, and nonprofit organizations around the globe. Founded in 1967, RCLCO has expertise in virtually every land use, completing hundreds of engagements annually for industry leaders." For more information, visit www.rclco.com.