Eagle Springs stands out in midyear sales report

A midyear report from Metrostudy holds good news for Houston's real estate market, with overall new-home sales up by 8% in 15 of the city's largest master-planned communities. The news was even better for Eagle Springs and other Houston developments being created by Newland Communities.

Houston-based Metrostudy, a national housing research firm, reported cumulative net sales of 2,473 new homes in the 15 communities for the first half of 2011, compared to 2,290 net sales in the same period last year.

Eagle Springs had a 51% increase in net sales for the first half of the year - the third highest increase in the report and the second biggest gain in the Northeast Houston submarket. Eagle Springs had 137 net sales for the first half of this year, compared to 91 for 2010.

Eagle Springs' traffic - the number of home shoppers visiting model homes - was up by 21%, the result of popular spring promotions touting new builders and new decorated model homes.

Total combined traffic for all 15 communities in the study was down slightly, by 1.7%.

Relocation sales increased their share of overall net sales among all communities, accounting for 32% of sales in 2011, up from 30% in 2010.

Summerwood, another Newland Communities development in the Northeast submarket, had a 59% sales increase and a 34% traffic increase for the first half of the year. 

Newland's Cinco Ranch community in Katy was up 19% for the period, ranking No. 2 citywide with 496 net units. The company's Telfair community in Sugar Land ranked third in net sales for the first half of the year.

Two more recent reports also point to a rosy future for Houston's continued growth. A study from Rice University's Kinder Institute found that Houston added more new residents than any other city in the nation from 2000 to 2010. Houston added more than 1.2 million new residents, edging out Dallas for the No. 1 growth spot.

In another report. Forbes ranked Houston No. 5 on its list of "The Next Biggest Boom Towns in the United States." Researchers used factors such as job growth and growth in educated migration to predict which cities are best positioned to prosper in the coming decade.