Northeast Florida is in its planned-communities era. In Robert Charles Lesser Cos.' list of the 50 largest planned communities in the U.S. ranked by 2025 sales, SilverLeaf of St. Augustine ranked seventh place, with an 11% jump in sales from 2024 to 2025.
The Hutson Companies-developed community sold 1,002 units in 2025, compared with 905 the previous year. A total of 17,600 units are planned for the 11,000-acre community.
SilverLeaf also welcomed the largest Publix supermarket in Northeast Florida in March, at 55,701 square feet along with a 2,100-sq.-ft. attached liquor store.
Also on the top 50 list is Mattamy Homes' Rivertown of St. Johns County, which increased sales by 57% from 2024 to 2025. By its final build, Rivertown will have 4,500 homes.
Nocatee of Ponte Vedra also appears on the list, with 417 home sales in 2025. The planned community is developed by The PARC Group.
As of March, the community was nearly sold out, says Donna Lundgren, Nocatee's marketing manager. "The total number of properties built is over 11,300, with fewer than 250 home sites remaining," she explains. "The buildout is occurring almost a decade ahead of the original 2035 projection."
For a community like Nocatee, located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, quick beach access, multiuse trails, preserved land, pools and a golf-cart-friendly lifestyle attract buyers, Lundgren says.
Planned communities have generally maintained more consistent sales than older or unplanned neighborhoods because of their amenities and thoughtful development, Lundgren says.
The PARC Group is planning another master-planned community in Northeast Florida called EverRange that will include 1,500 homes between Nocatee and the company's eTown community in south Jacksonville.
Northeast Florida is in a sweet spot for development because land is more readily available, but it's also less expensive than other areas of the state, says Stephanie Toothaker, a land use and governmental relations attorney in Fort Lauderdale.
"It's still centrally located with access to both the Atlanta and Orlando markets, all while enabling residents to realize a quality of life that is significantly less expensive than in Southeast Florida," she explains.
Yet some challenges remain for all buyers, including higher interest rates and insurance, limited supply and a preference for renting among young buyers, Toothaker adds.
"There are challenges to develop in this current economic climate, but the reality is that people are still moving to Florida and developers are developing. If the product is well-planned and curated to the consumer, there will always be a market," Toothaker says.
— By Vanessa Caceres