Houston home market shines as two communities crack U.S. top 20

​​​SUGAR LAND – Aliana and Riverstone made a national list of top 20 communities for home sales in the first half of 2016, while five other area communities just missed the target, according to a new report. 

For the most part, sales and home pricing were steady in Houston’s top-selling communities as a diversified economy helped mitigate the impact of low oil prices, according to RCLCO, a housing consulting firm that surveys communities throughout the nation to determine the ranking. 

Aliana, a community with new homes from $250,000 to more than $750,000 along the Grand Parkway at Airport Blvd., held its position as No. 14 with 243 home sales so far in 2016. The community is between Sugar Land and Katy.​

Riverstone is a 3,700-acre community by the Johnson Development in Fort Bend County. It s​aw new home sales drop by about a third in the first half of the year. 

The community posted 231 home sales through the first half of the year, compared with 347 during the first half of 2015.