From the NAR report introduction, “While every year is a unique time capsule where buyers and sellers purchase amid a changing economic environment, 2020 is especially distinctive as COVID-19 impacted Americans’ lives starting in March 2020. Buying a primary residence for home buyers is a financial decision, but also an emotional decision that involves many lifestyle factors. For most home buyers, the purchase of a primary residence is one of the largest financial transactions they will make.”
Some of the toplines from the NAR report are the following. Note that several of these factors – properly understood and acted upon – spell potential opportunity for savvy and growth minded manufactured housing professionals.
HIGHLIGHTS
Characteristics of Home Buyers
- First-time buyers made up 31 percent of all home buyers, a dip from last year’s 33 percent.
- The typical buyer was 47 years old this year, holding steady from last year, and the median household income for 2019 rose again this year to $96,500.
- Sixty-two percent of recent buyers were married couples, 19 percent were single females, nine percent were single males, and nine percent were unmarried couples.
- Twelve percent of home buyers purchased a multigenerational home, the same as last year, to take care of aging parents, because of children over the age of 18 moving back home, and for cost-savings.
- Ninety-one percent of recent home buyers identified as heterosexual, three percent as gay or lesbian, one percent as bisexual, and five percent preferred not to answer.
- Eighteen percent of recent home buyers were veterans and two percent were active-duty service members.
- At 27 percent, the primary reason for purchasing a home was the desire to own a home of their own. For first-time buyers, this number jumps to 64 percent.
Addition information plus the full download are our featured focus for tonight. As normal, the featured focus will follow the left-right headlines, and two of our three market summary graphics at the closing bell. The manufactured home industry connected stocks-at-a-glance graphic information follows the featured focus and related reports.
Quotes That Shed Light – Industry, American, Social, National Issues…
Headlines from left-of-center CNN Business
- Taking to the skies
- An exterior view of an American Airlines B737 MAX airplane is seen at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas on December 2, 2020. – The Boeing 737 MAX will take another key step in its comeback to commercial travel on December 2, 2020 by attempting to reassure the public with a test flight by American Airlines conducted for the news media. After being grounded for 20 months following two deadly crashes, US air safety officials in mid-November cleared the MAX to return to service following changes to the plane and pilot training protocols.
- After nearly two years, the Boeing 737 Max is about to fly in the US again
- How one bold decision turned a Trolls film into the most important movie of 2020
- Analysis: The year the world gave up waiting for Big Tech to fix itself
- China tells Ant Group to quickly overhaul its business
- China turns off the lights in ‘Christmas town’ as officials race to meet energy targets
- 2020 was a dark year. These moments made it a bit brighter
- England is finding new ways to crack down on unhealthy foods
- 190,000 ceiling fans recalled because the blades detach and fly off
- 6 career moves you should make in 2021
- New York Post to Donald Trump: Stop the insanity
- Jim Acosta: I’m not the only White House reporter who got death threats
- Pedestrians wearing protective masks pass in front of a permanently closed dry cleaners store and an empty storefront for lease in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. One in six dry cleaners have closed or gone bankrupt in the U.S. already, and many wont survive without more stimulus, according to the National Cleaners Association.
- Stimulus is here. But there are some big caveats
- McKittrick, California, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 29, 2020 There are over 1,100 producing oil wells in the McKittrick oil field, just north of the town of McKittrick on Cal. State Route 33. With the falling price of oil, some pumpjacks that need repair are being left idle.
- Opinion: Pretty soon, we may need more oil than we can produce
- Smartphone Mockup Image. Businessman holding Mobile Phone on Hand in front of Departures Board to check Flight Information. Blank Display Screen as Clipping Path
- If you want to travel next year, you may need a vaccine passport
- MARKETS
- LIFE DURING THE PANDEMIC
- Jordan Mills, center, her husband Jonathan Russell and their daughter Valkyrie were evicted from their home in San Antonio despite the CDC order. They still struggle to pay for their smaller, less expensive apartment since her hours have been cut and he left work to be with Valkyrie.
- She thought she did everything right to avoid being evicted. She was wrong
- A ‘huge wave of evictions’ is possible in January
- How small businesses may benefit from new aid
- Financial stress from Covid taking an emotional toll
- Write-offs for business lunches won’t do much to help restaurants
- SCREEN TIME
- The best apps of 2020 prove just what a long, strange year it’s been
- The real cost of being an Apple fan: Nearly $80,000
- AirPods Max headphones cost more than an iPhone SE
- It’s OK if you’ve used your phone too much this year
- Four new things you can do with Google Maps
Headlines from right-of-center Newsmax
Lawmakers Set to Vote on Higher Relief Checks After Trump Signs Stimulus Bill
- Election 2020
- Mulvaney: Trump Legacy Hinges on Ga. Senate Runoffs
- NY Post Urges Trump to Concede
- Ossoff, Warnock Campaigns Worried About Finances, GOP Spending
- Pence Sued by GOP Legislators to Overturn Biden’s Victory
- Rep. Brooks: ‘Dozens’ of Republicans Will Oppose Electoral Vote
- Trump to Hold Rally Jan. 4 to Back GOP Georgia Senate Candidates
- Warnock and Loeffler Work to Consolidate Voters for Runoff
- Hogan: Trump Will Hold ‘Big Chunk’ of GOP After Leaving Office
- Election 2020
- Mulvaney: Trump Legacy Hinges on Ga. Senate Runoffs
- NY Post Urges Trump to Concede
- Ossoff, Warnock Campaigns Worried About Finances, GOP Spending
- Pence Sued by GOP Legislators to Overturn Biden’s Victory
- Rep. Brooks: ‘Dozens’ of Republicans Will Oppose Electoral Vote
- Trump to Hold Rally Jan. 4 to Back GOP Georgia Senate Candidates
- Warnock and Loeffler Work to Consolidate Voters for Runoff
- Hogan: Trump Will Hold ‘Big Chunk’ of GOP After Leaving Office
- COVID-19 Mortality Rates Rise as Hospitals Become Overcrowded
- As nationwide cases of COVID-19 continue to soar to unprecedented levels, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data tracker… [Full Story]
- Related Stories
- Biden to Invoke Defense Production Act for Vaccines
- Rubio Slams Fauci for ‘Lying’ About Coronavirus
- December Deadliest Month of Pandemic in US
- Novavax Starts Late-Stage Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine in United States
- British Hospitals Scramble for Space as Virus Cases Soar
- Officials: Nashville Bomber Died at Scene
- Nashville officials on Sunday named Anthony Warner as the bomber
- Roger Stone: Trump Revealed US Divide Fueled by ‘Elites’
- The divide in America is not left versus right, but insiders against
- Novavax Starts Late-Stage Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine in United States
- Only One Number Mattered to Global Markets in 2020
- Bitcoin Faces Regulatory Scrutiny After Record-Breaking Rally
- Rasmussen Poll: 75 Percent Prefer Capitalism; 11 Percent Socialism
Market Indicator Closing Summaries – Yahoo Finance Closing Tickers on MHProNews…
Featured Focus –
Where Business, Politics and Investing Can Meet
Additional Information, Report and MHProNews Analysis
The NAR 2020 Buyers and Sellers Profile is the type of research that it would be nice if the Manufactured Housing Institute produced. Note first, that unlike MHI, NAR makes the report available for all to download. Their methodology and more are there to be examined. By contrast, MHI hides its ‘research’ behind a login. MHI show only what they want, which for thinking people calls into question the validity of the research. When asked direct questions about their report and research, MHI declines to answer.
That noted, the NAR research points to numerous issues as well as opportunities. The income needed to buy a new or existing home keeps climbing. That should be a major opportunity for manufactured housing. However, there are three ongoing and persistent problems that keep the industry underperforming, per a variety of sources. They include:
- Zoning/placement – this despite the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA 2000).
- Competitive Financing – despite Duty to Serve and under-used programs like FHA Title I, which MHI said itself some years ago was limited by the 10/10 rule. What happened to MHI’s concerns about that problem
- Image, public perception, and a level playing field resale opportunities.
Those noted, here are some additional pull quotes from the full NAR 2020 report, which is linked here.
“Tightened inventory is affecting the home search process of buyers. Due to suppressed inventory levels in many areas of the country, buyers are typically purchasing more expensive homes as prices increase. The number of weeks a buyer searched for a home fell to eight weeks from 10. Many buyers took advantage of new virtual tours and virtual listings and used those in their search process. Buyers continue to report the most difficult task for them in the home buying process was just finding the right home to purchase.”
Tightening inventory is occurring in existing real estate as well as in conventional housing, as the reports linked above and below reflect.
Yet, year to date for the most current information, manufactured housing is down for the second year in a row. How is that possible during an affordable housing crisis?
Characteristics of Homes Purchased
- Fifteen percent of buyers purchased a new home, and 85 percent of buyers purchased a previously owned home.
- Most recent buyers who purchased new homes were looking to avoid renovations and problems with plumbing or electricity at 44 percent. Buyers who purchased previously-owned homes were most often considering better overall value at 35 percent.
- Detached single-family homes continued to be the most common home type for recent buyers at 81 percent, followed by townhomes or row houses at seven percent.
- Senior-related housing held steady this year at 12 percent, with 17 percent of buyers typically purchasing condos and nine percent purchasing a townhouse or row house.
- The median distance between the home that recent buyers purchased and the home they moved from was only 15 miles.
- Home prices increased slightly this year to a median of $272,500 among all buyers. Buyers typically purchased their homes for 99 percent of the asking price
Each of these factoids, viewed through the lens of manufactured housing opportunities, point to the potential for serious growth.
Thus, what these facts and the industry’s 15+ years of sustained underperformance arguably point to a failure and/or betrayal of industry leadership by MHI and its ‘big boy’ backers.
To learn more, see the related reports that follow.
Related, Recent, and Read Hot Reports
Manufactured Housing Industry Investments Connected Closing Equities Tickers
Some of these firms invest in manufactured housing, or are otherwise connected, but may do other forms of investing or business activities too.
- NOTE: The chart below includes the Canadian stock, ECN, which purchased Triad Financial Services, a manufactured home industry lender
- NOTE: Drew changed its name and trading symbol at the end of 2016 to Lippert (LCII).
- NOTE: Deer Valley was largely taken private, say company insiders in a message to MHProNews on 12.15.2020, but there are still some outstanding shares of the stock from the days when it was a publicly traded firm. Thus, there is still periodic activity on DVLY.
Winter 2020…
Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company to Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage, Vanderbilt Mortgage and other factory built housing industry suppliers.
· LCI Industries, Patrick, UFPI, and LP each are suppliers to the manufactured housing industry, among others.
· AMG, CG, and TAVFX have investments in manufactured housing related businesses. For insights from third-parties and clients about our publisher, click here.
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Sample Kudos over the years…
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Disclosure. MHProNews holds no positions in the stocks in this report.
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHLivingNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
