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Cinco Ranch new-home sales up 15% for 2009
New-home sales increased 15% in 2009 in Cinco Ranch, a 7,600-acre master-planned community being developed by Newland Communities in Katy.
Homebuilders in Cinco Ranch sold a total of 892 new homes in 2009, compared to 773 new homes sold in 2008. Last year was the best year for new-home sales in Cinco Ranch since 2006, and the third-best year since the community opened in 1991.
Strong relocation sales, an expanded product line and increased inventory helped Cinco Ranch post a double-digit gain in a year where Houston area new-home sales were significantly down from their peak two years ago, said Heather Gould, marketing director for Newland Communities.
“Out-of-town buyers accounted for roughly one in three new-home buyers in Cinco Ranch in 2009, in part reflecting the relatively healthy employment picture in and around west Houston’s Energy Corridor,” Gould said. “Over the past 19 years, Cinco Ranch has built strong and positive brand awareness which has appealed to out-of-town buyers as well as local buyers. In these times especially, home buyers appear to prefer master-planned communities such as Cinco Ranch, viewing them as safe havens of quality and value.”
Gould added that spec homes, or homes started in anticipation of buyers, accounted for over 50% of new-home sales in Cinco Ranch last year. “Having a good supply of ready inventory also helped Cinco Ranch capture market share in 2009, because many local move-up buyers seemed to want to sell their existing homes before finding new homes.”
Cinco Ranch ranked as the number one community in the Houston area for new-home sales for the first three quarters of 2009, the latest statistics available from Houston-based Metrostudy.
Cinco Ranch added a number of neighborhoods in new and existing price ranges in 2009. A totally new product, traditionally styled homes with front porches and other traditional architectural details, was introduced in 2009 at Park Place at Cinco Ranch. This neighborhood offers homes from the $280,000s by Highland Homes and J. Kyle Homes, the latter a new Cinco Ranch builder.
Gould said education has been another draw for Cinco Ranch homebuyers. Cinco Ranch is located in the Katy Independent School District, and 12 of the 13 public schools that Cinco Ranch students are zoned to attend have received the highest accountability rating, Exemplary, from the Texas Education Agency.
Approximately 10,000 homes have been built in Cinco Ranch since the community opened in 1991. Originally a 5,000-acre development, Cinco Ranch opened a 2,400-acre addition in 2008, in addition to several smaller increases in the original master plan, providing approximately 4,000 additional homesites and extending the community’s projected buildout date until 2014.
Elsewhere in the Houston area, new-home sales increased 10% in 2009 at Telfair, a 2,018-acre community also being developed by Newland Communities in Sugar Land.
A total of 449 new homes were sold in Telfair in 2009, compared to 408 sold in 2008.
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