Master-Planned Communities Flourishing

Master-planned communities like Riverchase Estates have always appealed to homebuyers seeking thoughtfully designed neighborhoods and extensive lifestyle amenities. This appeal has soared even more in the past year as communities across the country have set sales records.

A new national report by John Burns Real Estate Consulting suggests that, in fact, master-planned communities are flourishing because they offer exactly what American homebuyers are seeking – an escape from crowded urban centers, a place that celebrates families, well-designed homes, plentiful high-quality amenities, and extensive natural escapes.

“No doubt the low mortgage rates helped, but homebuyers’ urgency to improve their living spaces contributed significantly to the burst in sales,” says the Burns report, “Master Plan Success Stories: What Really Worked in 2020.” (1)

The report outlines four forces that have drawn more buyers than ever to master-planned communities:

• A home-sales boom fueled by people now working and learning from home offices.
• A shift of many homebuyers from living in urban centers to the suburbs or beyond.
• A desire for enough outdoor space to socially distance while exercising and playing.
• A need to balance our desire to stay connected while keeping our families safe.

Trends cited in the Burns report bode well for Riverchase Estates, with its wide array of natural and world-class amenities including its 500-acre riverfront nature preserve, trail system, resort-style pool and fitness center. Community amenities, large wooded homesites and luxury homes offered by Riverchase Estates are exactly what so many are looking for as buyers search for the ideal setting for their families and loved ones.

Homebuyers are choosing where they will work and live

Many companies nationwide shifted much of their office staffs to home offices in 2020 as a way to keep workers healthy and productive. A year later, experts in office-building design and management say we are witnessing the end of the traditional daily commute for many Americans.

Freed from that time-consuming daily drive ¬– nearly an hour a day for the typical Charlotte commuter, the U.S. Census Bureau reports (2) – a growing number of homebuyers have discovered they now can live and work in highly desirable communities like Riverchase Estates.

“Remote work has become a reality that many people (both business managers and employees) are embracing,” an expert in office technology and design recently told an industry publication by Commercial Property Executive. The article, “Reimagining the Workplace After the Pandemic: Q&A,” (3) envisions the company office rapidly evolving into the place where most workers go only occasionally, for collaboration and strategic planning.

Not coincidentally, the Burns Report observes that master-planned communities across America have seen a surge in buyers who have recognized that if they don’t need to commute daily, they can live much further away from the company office.

“Work-from-home has proven to be a sweet freedom amid a year of COVID-19 restrictions,” the Burns Report states. “New-home sales (in master-planned communities) boomed across the country as work-from-home opportunities became permanent for many, and commute times became a drudgery of the past.”

The great outdoors, right outside your door

The need to stay safe and the need to keep fit collided last year as many states ordered the shutdown of fitness centers, playgrounds and sports facilities. The Burns Report says that homebuyers seeking to fill those voids are finding them in communities with extensive resident centers, natural areas and playgrounds – in other words, communities like Riverchase Estates.

Staying connected and productive while playing safe

The Burns report concludes that suburban master-planned communities are flourishing because they offer homebuyers “the whole package.” Riverchase Estates and similar communities are attracting new residents with well-designed neighborhoods, a sense of community, extensive recreational resources and homes that often cost less than comparable homes closer to the center of town.

Community clubs, while challenged by the need for social distancing, have found ways virtually and through limited reservations to offer many safe activities for their residents.

Neighborhood nature preserves and trails offer important escapes from the “office” for home-based workers.

A unique chance to create both your dream home and office

Homebuyers needing home offices also have benefited from the rare opportunity to create both their dream home and their ideal workplace. The Commercial Property Executive report on Reimagining the Workplace encourages employees and companies “to revisit and upgrade our home workspaces to optimize them for productivity and daily work.”

At Riverchase Estates, four of the Charlotte region’s top builders can help buyers create home offices that reflect the user’s design preferences while maintaining the right level of separation between home office and family life.

Footnotes

(1) “Master Plan Success Stories: What Really Worked in 2020.” By Jody Kahn, Devyn Bachman and Nicole Luszczak, Jan. 25, 2021, John Burns Real Estate Consulting. https://www.realestateconsulting.com/top-master-planned-communities-2020-release-2/

(2) “How long does it take to get to work? The average may surprise you.“ By Ben Williamson, Oct. 4, 2018, WBTV News. [https://www.wbtv.com/2018/10/04/how-long-does-it-take-get-work-average-may-surprise-you/]

(3) “Reimagining the Workplace After the Pandemic: Q&A.” By Anca Gagiuc, Dec. 28, 2020, Commercial Property Executive. https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/reimagining-the-workplace-after-the-pandemic-qa/