Five residential developments on the outskirts of Dallas-Fort Worth were among the top-selling master-planned communities in the nation in the first half of 2023, according to a new report.
Communities in Aubrey, Little Elm, Northlake, Argyle and Celina made RCLCO Real Estate Consulting’s mid-year list. Aubrey’s Silverado, a D.R. Horton development, was the highest-ranked local community, tying for No. 19 with a community in Ave Maria, Fla., with 355 home sales.
The research firm previously ranked Silverado as the nation’s sixth top-selling development in 2022. Residents have been drawn to Silverado for its relatively low price points, the location and the community, The Dallas Morning News reported last year.
The other four communities were all developed by Hillwood Communities, the Dallas-based development company founded by local real estate mogul Ross Perot Jr.
These North Texas communities made the list:
- Silverado (No. 19), Aubrey, D.R. Horton, 355 sales
- Union Park (No. 37), Little Elm, Hillwood Communities, 263 sales
- Pecan Square (No. 42), Northlake, Hillwood Communities, 230 sales
- Harvest (No. 46), Argyle, Hillwood Communities, 220 sales
- Lilyana (No. 48), Celina, Hillwood Communities, 216 sales
Texas had 22 communities on the list, topped by Katy’s Sunterra near Houston at No. 3 with 669 sales. Sun Belt cities dominated master-planned home sales this year, with The Villages in Florida at No. 1 with 1,960 sales.
RCLCO compared sales of each community in the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2022. Sales in Silverado dropped 41% compared to the same period a year ago. Sales were up in the other D-FW communities. Celina’s Lilyana did not report sales in the first half of 2022.
At the end of 2022, RCLCO reported that sales among the top-selling communities declined by 20% compared to 2021. The company said some of that decline has since recovered after builders used incentives such as discounts and mortgage-rate buy-downs to boost sales.
Over half of developers and master-planned community representatives reported strong optimism for sales in the second half of the year, according to the research firm’s survey. Local builders sold a record number of homes in the spring as the inventory of existing homes remained low while sellers held back on listings due to still-elevated mortgage rates.
