It's not always first in at the top. It depends on several things. I can update several at the same time, but they don't take the same amount of time to update. This can cause the most recent to not be at the top. That update list is new with iOS 7. Before iOS 7, we had no list. Also, it seems some always seem to make their way to the top, regardless of how it is done. Not sure why. Maybe a bit of $$ to iTunes/Apple for top spot? Looks that way at times. That order doesn't bother me. The order that I hate is the reviews. They used to show the most recent reviews at the top. And they were in order of when they came in. It made much better sense than like they do now. You look at reviews, and at the top are reviews from 2 years ago. To see the most recent, and most relevant, you have to scroll way down several hundred reviews. And they mix them up for apps with negative recent reviews so that older good reviews are counted to give it a false high rating of stars. You can no longer rely on reviews anyway. Many developers post several positive reviews to skewer it in their favor. iTunes has started cracking down on that. The reviews are just no longer relevant. Sorry about getting off topic!
Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5