Tamarron, the sprawling D.R. Horton development straddling Katy and Fulshear, ranked as Houston's top master-planned community by annual home starts, recording 1,102 new home starts over the 12-month period ending in June. Sunterra is a Land Tejas-developed community known for its 2.7-acre Crystal Lagoon. Bridgeland is a Howard Hughes Communities project in Cypress.
The rankings come from a Houston-area master-planned communities list compiled by the Houston Business Journal. Tamarron, developed exclusively by D.R. Horton Inc. and zoned to Katy ISD and Lamar CISD, is planned for more than 4,000 single-family homes at full buildout and is considered D.R. Horton's flagship national master-planned development, according to MKAT Group.
Sunterra is zoned to Katy ISD and Royal ISD. The 1,039-acre community is anchored by its Crystal Lagoon-fed Sol Club amenity center, which opened in June 2025, according to Crystal Lagoons.
Two Distinct Houston-Area Communities
Tamarron is a single-builder community developed by D.R. Horton. Sunterra is known for its Crystal Lagoon amenity, per Crystal Lagoons' community profile.
Earlier midyear figures from research firm RCLCO showed Tamarron already closing the gap before it took the top spot outright. Tamarron logged 594 new home sales in the first half of 2026, a 16% jump from 510 sales in the same period a year earlier, which ranked it first among Houston-area communities and sixth nationally at that point, according to Realty News Report. That made Tamarron one of only four Houston-area communities in the national top 50 to post midyear sales gains in 2026, per the same report.
The lead was narrower just a year ago. In full-year 2025 rankings compiled by RCLCO, Sunterra led the entire state of Texas and ranked fifth nationally with 1,024 sales, while Tamarron sat in ninth nationally with 974 sales and Bridgeland placed eleventh with 812 sales, as reported by The Real Deal. Houston's broader dominance has held steady throughout: Greater Houston placed nine communities in RCLCO's national top 50 at midyear 2026, accounting for 3,049 new home sales and 16% of all top-50 sales nationwide, though that's down from 11 top-50 communities the metro had in mid-2025.
Fourth-Place Anniston Shows Katy's Staying Power
Rounding out the Business Journal's top four is Anniston, a Friendswood Development Co. community also located in Katy and zoned to Katy ISD. Anniston posted 586 annual home starts and 679 closings, with just 393 available lots and 431 future lots remaining, a far smaller inventory runway than its larger neighbors.
Affordability Keeps Houston Competitive Nationally
Houston's continued strength comes against a national backdrop where master-planned community buyers are increasingly priced out. An October 2026 study from research firm Zonda found that national sales over $500,000 in master-planned communities jumped from 19% in 2018 to 44% in 2026, yet Houston has largely avoided that shift, with 44% of its master-planned community sales still priced below $400,000, according to Homes.com News. Zonda tracks 1,010 master-planned communities across more than 120 markets and attributes the broader price climb to rising land and amenity costs, per the same study.
Growth Strains Local Infrastructure
The home-starts race in West Houston hasn't come without growing pains for public infrastructure. Katy ISD trustees approved a $41.02 million construction contract in February for a new elementary school at Pitts Road and Sunterra Point Drive to relieve overcrowding from the area's rapid suburban growth, with completion expected by mid-2027, Hoodline previously reported. The district opened two other elementary schools along the same corridor at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Elsewhere in the region, developer Hines closed $46.7 million in public infrastructure financing in September for its 733-acre Winfield community in Galveston County, converting future municipal utility district reimbursements into immediate capital to speed up lot delivery.
