[media-credit name="Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post" align="alignright" width="270"][/media-credit] Construction workers build new homes and sidewalks in the Stapleton neighborhood of northeast Denver.
New home sales in Stapleton have landed the Denver neighborhood among the nation’s best-selling, master-planned communities in 2012, according to a ranking by Irvine, Calif.-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
The consulting group surveyed close to 100 communities and ranked the top 50 across the United States. Stapleton, whose master developer is Forest City, tied for 10th on the list with 508 sales in 2012.
Highlands Ranch was right behind, ranking 12th with 507 sales last year.
Also on the list was The Meadows in Castle Rock, which ranked 37th with 250 sales.
“The national housing market is clearly showing signs of recovery, and nowhere is the improvement more evident than in the performance of the nation’s largest master-planned communities,” the Burns report said. “Together, these communities totaled 22,806 new homes sales in 2012, which is a 46 percent increase over the 15,599 new home sales in these communities in 2011.”
Stapleton’s 508 home sales were focused in its Central Park West and Bluff Lake neighborhoods. Model homes are now rising in Stapleton’s next new residential neighborhood, Conservatory Green, which will feature 500 homes north of Interstate 70 adjacent to The Shops at Northfield Stapleton, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
“This past year, Stapleton’s builders continued to provide homebuyers with a wide range of housing types and pricing, as well as excellent value in an urban community that is celebrated across the nation for its superior quality of life,” said John S. Lehigh, president of Forest City Stapleton. “Conservatory Green will have the same sustainable, walkable, urban design that has been the foundation of our ongoing success, and therefore we have confidence it will receive an enthusiastic reception from homebuyers in 2013 and the years ahead.”
The Villages development in central Florida remained No. 1 on the best-selling list with 2,851 sales. Irvine Ranch in Orange County, Calif., was second with 1,434 sales, and The Woodlands in Houston was third with 1,007 sales.
Cinco Ranch in Katy, Texas, was fourth, followed by Mountain’s Edge and Providence, both in Las Vegas; Riverstone in Houston; Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota, Fla.; and Otay Ranch in Chula Vista, Calif. Stapleton tied for 10th with Nocatee in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
A year ago, Stapleton was 11th on the list. Stapleton’s sales in 2012 represented a 34 percent increase from its 379 sales in 2011.
Highlands Ranch, ranked 19th a year ago, climbed to 12th thanks to a 94 percent increase over 2011 sales. The Meadows rose from 48th, enjoying a 66.7 percent increase in sales over 2011.
