MH Digest

Over 20 million Americans live in manufactured housing – more than in public housing and federally subsidized rental housing combined. Yet many people, including urban planners and affordable housing researchers, see manufactured housing parks as problems. In contrast, we see them as part of the solution to housing crises.

If you’re looking to buy a house, some of the most affordable price tags in your area may be attached to modular homes. Modular homes aren’t mobile homes—they don’t move.

In rural Florida, a new development could offer one solution to the nation’s affordable housing crisis: a built-to-rent community populated with manufactured homes.

Manufactured housing — units constructed off site before being moved to a property — is another way to increase the housing supply quickly. But shifting away from nontraditional buildings would require an effort to convince surrounding communities of their value.

In policymakers’ hunt for a scalable, quick solution to the affordability crisis, one model has attracted more attention of late: manufactured housing. Manufactured housing received a prominent shoutout in the Biden administration’s affordable housing plan, which touted the potential role Freddie Mac could play in that market.

The Biden administration wants to put America’s house factories back to work. A new housing plan by the White House offers a set of actions designed to close the nation’s massive affordability gap. Among its proposals are steps that would lower costs for manufactured homes by expanding financing options.

A park model, as RVers who camp at commercial campgrounds probably know, is basically a cabin built on a single trailer chassis. Federal rules restrict them to less than 400 square feet, but they can be as much as 14 feet wide, which neutral observers might conclude stretches the definition of “vehicle.”

NATIONAL – After a decades-long slump in demand, and even longer as an unloved segment of the residential industry, manufactured housing is experiencing a surge in demand — and seeing a slow but steady change in how it is perceived.

NATIONAL – Amid a historic housing boom, one that’s pushing homeownership out of reach of many Americans, manufactured housing presents a partial solution to the affordability squeeze. Makers of manufactured homes have raised their game in recent years, and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have responded by backing mortgages on higher-end prefab homes.

NATIONAL – As an overheated housing market – marked by double-digit price increases, bidding wars and inventory shortages – puts the dream of homeownership out of reach of many ordinary Americans, manufactured homes are growing in popularity because their cost is roughly half that of homes built on a permanent site.