Providence, a smaller development in the Lone Mountain area, came in at No. 5 with 726 sales last year, compared with 110 sales in 2006.

Summerlin, a 26,000-acre development by The Howard Hughes Corp. on Las Vegas' western edge, fell to No. 8 with 583 sales in 2007.

Summerlin occupied the No. 1 spot for much of the 1990s and was fifth in 2006 with 617 sales.

The majority of top-selling master-planned communities have generally been located in the southwestern region of the country, said Jean Yeung, marketing manager for RCLCO of Bethesda, Md.

Phoenix took the No. 2 (Power Ranch, 888 sales) and No. 3 (Vistancia, 815 sales) spots and Houston was No. 4 (The Woodlands, 767 sales).

Last year, RCLCO questioned whether those communities would continue to outpace projects in regions with limited land availability, higher land values and cooler climates, Yeung said. This year's survey shows that most of them have been able to sustain good sales through uncertain times.

Focus has already sold most of its land in Mountain's Edge, Chief Executive Officer John Ritter said.

"All the information out there is negative, and that is one bright spot in a sea of bad news," he said. "That project is still doing well, and that's a positive point."

Ritter became a high-profile developer in Las Vegas with major land acquisitions at Bureau of Land Management public auctions starting in 2002. He ran into trouble in February when he missed an interest payment on $470 million in loans and is now restructuring the debt through several lenders, including Clayton Mortgage of Henderson.

"In general, Clayton and many other lenders are working with us to come up with a solution," Ritter said.

"There is a small percentage of our debt not looking for a solution. At the end of the day, maybe 10 percent to 20 percent of private debt will go to default. We'll survive it."

A notable trend in this year's RCLCO survey is the emergence of retail town centers as the "it" amenity in successful master-planned communities, Yeung said.

In the past, golf course communities were able to get a premium price.

Mountain's Edge and Providence are the only two communities in this year's top 10 without a golf course.

Park Highlands, a 2,675-acre community planned by Olympia Group in North Las Vegas, also doesn't have a golf course.

About 40 percent of all master-planned communities surveyed have a retail town center and many of them performed as well as if not better than golf course communities in sales and prices, Yeung said.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0491.