Lakewood Ranch retains top spot in the U.S. as best selling multi-generational community
Despite the tumble that new home sales at master-planned communities took nationwide in March and April because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lakewood Ranch retained its ranking as the best-selling multi-generational community in the United States for the first half of 2020.
Through the end of June, Lakewood Ranch reported 838 new home sales, two percent more than during the same period in 2019.
Among all master planned communities in the United States, Lakewood Ranch trailed only The Villages, a 55-plus community near Ocala, which had an estimated 1,000 sales, according to RCLCO, a national real estate analytics company.
No. 3 among all master planned communities in the United States was Wellen Park in Venice with 683 new home sales.
“After dropping dramatically in late March and early April, sales in the last two weeks of April rebounded and the trend continued into May and June,” RCLCO said this week.
Lakewood Ranch has been among the top-selling master-planned communities in the country for nine consecutive years.
“No question the outbreak has prompted a flight to quality,” Laura Cole, senior vice president for LWR Communities, LLC, said in a press release. “Buyers across the demographic and geographic spectrum have, in many cases, accelerated their decision to purchase a home in Lakewood Ranch because it has all the qualities and conveniences of an established town with the added benefit of resort-level amenities in their neighborhood.
“Lakewood Ranch’s open space and extraordinary array of floorplans have also been a major driver for those seeking to escape urban centers in favor of a more active and connected lifestyle,” Cole said. “Today, Lakewood Ranch has three town centers, five neighborhood shopping centers, a medical center, A-Rated schools, over 120 miles of trails, 60-plus clubs, premier sports complex, and over 1,400 businesses. Since COVID-19 hit, independent home offices, outdoor living space, and technology packages have become popular questions for our information center guides.”
The advent of COVID-19 has further shaped consumer preferences for houses with offices and pools, as well as larger dedicated community spaces, like parks and trails, according to a press release from developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.
Online traffic to Lakewood Ranch has been up across the board, even as physical traffic has returned, which was a pattern noted by RCLCO.
“Those master planned communities with more advanced tech features (virtual tours, community apps, etc.) to facilitate home sales had the most success during the slower period,” said Gregg Logan, managing director of RCLCO.
“The increased use of community apps and online amenities and services have become critically important aspects of both the sales and community building processes,” Logan said. “The execution of these components has helped both to facilitate new home sales as well as to sustain the sense of community which master-planned communities strive to create and which is key to their ‘lifestyle’ appeal.”
Even with travel restrictions in place, buyers were purchasing homes, in many cases, sight unseen, making use of builders’ virtual tours, as well as interactive chats and virtual community presentations from the Lakewood Ranch Information Center.
“Lakewood Ranch has the unique advantage of being owned and guided by the same family since its inception over 25 years ago. Their vision and dedication to quality planning has resulted in Lakewood Ranch being the best-selling community for all ages in the United States for three years,” Cole said.
Lakewood Ranch’s recent growth has come from millennials and baby boomers. Active adults accounted for a large percentage of sales, while young couples experienced the greatest increase in home sales of any consumer profile, jumping 38 percent year-over-year.
The northeast remained the largest feeder market for buyers from out of state, with increases in Midwest buyers, as well as those from the Maryland-D.C. area.
Most of Lakewood Ranch’s 33,000 acres is in Manatee County, but SMR is also developing Waterside in Sarasota County.
Waterside will include more than 5,000 homes, which will be connected to the Waterside Place town center by trails and water taxis.
RCLCO has been ranking master-planned communities since 1994; for more information, visit https://www.rclco.com/.
