The Villages’ energetic way of life continues to draw new residents at a powerful charge, at the same time as market forces have impacted many different communities throughout the nation. The Villages in 2022 as soon as once more reigned because the #1 grasp deliberate group in america, in line with RCLCO, a world actual property consulting agency based mostly in Bethesda, Maryland. That does not shock RCLCO director Karl Pischke. It’s the sixth yr in a row that The Villages has been the highest promoting group. The Villages additionally ranked No. 1 on the corporate’s Better of the Decade record for the 2010s after main the nation in gross sales 9 out of 10 years from 2010-2019. can attribute to the approach to life they’ve created for his or her residents,” Pischke mentioned. “Few different communities within the nation have been capable of foster such a novel atmosphere that takes benefit of each the bodily facilities and enterprise infrastructure, together with the programming and sense of group created by the numerous golf equipment and organizations that exist there.”
The Villages maintained robust gross sales in 2022 regardless of inflation and provide chain points that noticed the true property market take some hits.
The Villages ranked highest in 2021 with three,923 residence gross sales, a 2% lower from a report yr in 2021, in line with RCLCO information. Nonetheless, gross sales among the many prime 50 communities within the RCLCO desk had been down 20% over the yr. “Even a few of the largest and most profitable communities noticed vital gross sales slowdowns this yr as rising rates of interest and financial uncertainty hit customers,” Pischke mentioned. “So for The Villages to see a decline in gross sales of simply 2%, in comparison with their report gross sales of four,000 properties in 2021, would definitely counsel that they’ve a degree of immunity to broader market circumstances.”
The Villages’ numbers far dwarf every other group. Lakewood Ranch, a multi-generational group close to Sarasota, ranked second with 1,846 new properties offered, a 28% drop from 2021. One other Florida group, Silverleaf in St. Augustine, ranked third with 1,034 properties offered. No different group surpassed 1,000 properties in 2022.
The grasp plan gives all residents, regardless of the place they stay in the neighborhood, with handy entry to recreation, golf, leisure, buying, eating, medical providers and extra. And it is all simply accessible by golf cart, due to a 150-mile community of multimodal roads, together with tunnels and bridges, to attach the complete group from north to south.
Planning that encompasses each facet of The Villages is essential to setting it aside, mentioned John Rohan, director of The Villages Parks and Recreation Division.
“This can be a world-class group that gives its residents with an distinctive way of life like no different,” he mentioned. “That’s the fruits of group design. There’s a synergy with the imaginative and prescient of what the developer created to permit residents to remain energetic and wholesome. You see it with the accessibility of recreation facilities, plazas and eating places, church buildings, and different help facilities conveniently situated inside the group.” The Villages boasts greater than three,100 resident way of life golf equipment run by resident volunteers, 729 holes of golf, greater than anyplace else on the earth, 112 leisure amenities with 110 swimming swimming pools, 241 pickleball courts and 15 softball fields. However it’s the residents who convey the group to life, Rohan mentioned.
“It is achieved by means of the variety of recreation facilities and providers, our devoted resident way of life volunteers, our devoted workers, and we love what we do,” he mentioned. “We’re all dedicated to our aim of serving to to enhance and enrich the lives of our residents.”
The plethora of choices satisfied Jodi and Mark Zwayer, who purchased a house within the Village of St. Johns and moved from Columbus, Ohio in August 2022.
The couple had been visiting The Villages because the early 2000s after Jodi’s aunt and uncle moved into the group. However they did their due diligence earlier than making the choice to change into everlasting residents, Jodi mentioned. “Our kids are unfold out throughout the nation, so each time we visited one among them, we’d take a look at the 55+ communities within the space,” she mentioned, including that they had been trying in Arizona, Texas and the Carolinas. .
“However simply the sheer variety of recreation facilities and swimming pools and the wide selection of actions made it a straightforward alternative. Most locations have a recreation heart, a swimming pool, a golf course. Whenever you come right here, you may get as concerned as you need. There isn’t a restrict to what you are able to do.”
The sense of group was what drew Kenda Summers and her husband, Jim Wand, to maneuver into The Villages in April 2022.
It impressed Summers to buy a second residence within the Village of Richmond later within the yr following her husband’s loss of life.
“My story is a mixture of happiness and disappointment,” Summers mentioned. “We got here to Florida after my husband was recognized with terminal most cancers. We wished to have the ability to benefit from all that The Villages has to supply when you nonetheless had a while left. And my husband did not need me to be in a spot the place all he needed to do was sit in a home and really feel sorry for myself. He wished me to be someplace with all of the golf equipment and the prospect to immerse your self in any exercise you would need.”
Summers mentioned the help he has acquired has been immeasurable.
“I like the place I stay,” he mentioned. “I get to take my goldendoodle, Stelly, to the canine park each day and we love the character path. It’s a couple of mile and a half loop that we stroll each day. I dove into a few of the grief help teams, to be trustworthy, which has been actually useful. And I began taking a images class at The Enrichment Academy. It seems like that is actually the place I used to be meant to be.”
Specialty editor Keith Pearlman may be contacted at 352-753-1119, ext. 5347, or keith.pearlman@thevillagesmedia.com.