Cross Creek Ranch - These five communities saw the most new home construction starts

A Sugar Land community with high-end amenities reigns supreme when it comes to new home starts over the past year.

Riverstone had 756 home starts from the second quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, according to Houston-based MetroStudy. It also has one of the highest HOA fees compared to other communities with high new home starts. Homeowners pay from $895 to $1,595, depending on whether the home is situated on a lake and/or in a gated portion of the community.

In April, the Houston Business Journal was first to report that Riverstone will release 900 more home sites over the next few months, including nine 1-acre island lots on Lake Riverstone, which is located in the middle of the Sugar Land development. It ranked second only to Cinco Ranch for the most homes sold last year in a master-planned community.

Amenities have always been a key selling point for master-planned communities.

Case in point, Riverstone is also developing a new 17-acre recreation center in the heart of the community to be completed by summer. It will include a 9,000-square-foot clubhouse with a fitness center, large swimming pool with waterslide tower, splash pad, eight tennis courts and a state-of-the-art playground with ziplines.

Cinco Ranch ranked second to Riverstone with 733 new home starts for the same timeframe.

The Woodlands (641), Aliana (470) and Cross Creek Ranch (565) rounded out the top five for the number of new home starts.

The Greater Houston Partnership estimates 125,000 new single-family homes will be built in the next five years. But as strong as the current housing market is, developers are building half as many homes as they did during the subprime-fueled boom. This is resulting in too few homes and too many buyers — and that is a trend that’s going to continue over the next year, experts say.

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