Dallas-Fort Worth is a master when it comes to master-planned communities. A report released January 5 by RCLCO Real Estate Advisors shows the DFW metro area is home to four of the 50 top-selling master-planned communities in 2020.

The four DFW communities on the list are:

• SouthStar Communities’ WoodCreek in Fate, ranked 23rd with 623 homes sold (up 55 percent from 2019).
• Hillwood Communities’ Union Park in Little Elm, ranked 24th with 607 homes sold (up 71 percent from 2019).
• D.R. Horton’s Silverado in Aubrey, ranked 27th with 584 homes sold (no comparable figure for 2019).
• Hillwood Communities’ Pecan Square in Northlake, ranked 37th with 509 homes sold (no comparable figure for 2019).

"The 50 Top-Selling Master-Planned Communities in 2020 experienced total sales about 20 percent higher than in 2019, and communities in this year’s Top-50 report for which sales data was available in 2019 had an average increase in sales of 40 percent in 2020," the report says.

And while COVID-19 drove some buyers away from dense urban centers, into communities in the suburbs, that's not the entire picture.

“COVID-19 has increased the desire for newer, better, and bigger spaces," the report says. "However, it is the low interest rates that have provided the opportunity for many buyers, and the historically low levels of resale inventory which has accelerated urgency, and increased demand for new homes.”

According to the study, Texas and Florida accounted for nearly two-thirds of total sales among the 50 top-selling communities last year. DFW isn't the only Texas metro to pop up on the list.

In fact, Houston has the highest total for any city in the U.S. In all, eight communities there sold more than 5,000 homes last year, which also was the highest total for any metro area.

Leading the Houston pack is Bridgeland, a master-planned community in Cypress developed by The Woodlands-based Howard Hughes Corp. The report says 873 homes were sold there last year, up 19 percent from 2019. That total put Bridgeland at No. 9 among the top 50. It is the highest-ranked community in Texas for the number of homes sold.

The seven other master-planned communities there were:

• Balmoral, ranked 12th with 841 homes sold last year (up 80 percent from 2019).
• Sienna in Missouri City, ranked 15th with 773 homes sold last year (up 50 percent from 2019).
• Tamarron in Katy, ranked 25th with 604 homes sold last year (up 84 percent from 2019).
• Cross Creek Ranch in Fulshear, ranked 36th with 510 sold homes last year (up 5 percent from 2019).
• Elyson in Katy, ranked 40th with 497 homes sold last year (up 43 percent from 2019).
• Harvest Green in Richmond, ranked 43rd with 481 homes last year (up 35 percent from 2019).
• Sierra Vista/Sterling Lakes in Arcola, ranked 45th with 474 homes sold last year (up 37 percent from 2019).

Communities in Austin and San Antonio also showed up in the RCLCO ranking. Austin gained three spots in the top 50, and San Antonio picked up one spot.

On a percentage basis, two communities in the Austin area — Brookfield Residential’s 29th-ranked Easton Park project in Austin (577 homes sold, up 90 percent) and Scarborough Lane’s 26th-ranked Sunfield project in Buda (595 homes sold, up 89 percent) — notched the biggest gains in home sales among the Texas communities on the list. The other Austin area community in the ranking is Santa Rita Ranch in Liberty Hill, appearing at No. 21 with 641 homes sold (up 72 percent from 2019). The developer of Santa Rita Ranch is Fairway, Kansas-based Mariner Real Estate Management.

Representing San Antonio on the list is Valley Ranch, ranked No. 34 with 542 homes sold, up 64 percent from 2019.