So far this year, home sales in a majority of Houston's top selling communities are looking up.

Ten master planned communities in the Houston area earned spots on a national ranking of the top 50 communities based new home sales through midyear, a new report by real estate advisory firm RCLCO showed.

Sales were up in six of the 10 local communities with Riverstone, Bridgeland, Harvest Green and The Woodlands showing double digit percentage increases compared with the first half of last year.

New homes sales in the local communities rose by an average of 9 percent through mid year compared with the same period in 2016, according to RCLCO. That compares with an average growth rate of 19 percent for the nation's top 50 sellers.

Texas, Florida and California accounted for two-thirds of the top 50 communities, with Irvine Ranch in Orange County taking the No. 1 spot with 1,088 sales through June 2017. The Villages in Ocala, Fla. logged 983 sales, followed by Sarasota's Lakewood Ranch and West Villages.

RELATED: Howard Hughes launches new community north of The Woodlands

Riverstone, a development of Johnson Development Corp. in Fort Bend County, ranked No. 16 on the list with 276 new home sales through mid year. That's up 19 percent over the 231 sales in the first half of 2016.

Bridgeland and The Woodlands, two developments of the Howard Hughes Corp. and The Woodlands Development Co., and Harvest Green in Richmond showed the biggest rises.

Bridgeland in Cypress, No. 27 with 225 sales through midyear, saw a 50 percent rise from the 150 sales by midyear 2016. The Woodlands, No. 42 with 174 sales through June 2017, rose 45 percent from 120 through midyear 2016.

In Harvest Green, a farm based community along the Grand Parkway in Richmond, sales rose by 48 percent to 175 sales through midyear. It was No. 41 on the national list.

Sales also rose in Cross Creek Ranch (No. 31 with 212 sales, up 6 percent) and Sienna Plantation (No. 32 with 207 sales, up 4 percent).

Four area communities reported a decrease in midyear sales compared with the same period last year: Aliana (No. 24 with 231 sales, down 12 percent); Woodforest (No. 37 with 183 sales, down 11 percent); Canyon Lakes West (No. 40 with 177 sales, down 30 percent); and Wildwood at Northpointe (No. 43 with 172 sales, down 21 percent).