A new report by left-of-center CNBC examines mainstream housing trends that once again, ought to spell opportunity for manufactured homes, and other factory-based housing builders.
Three top lines:
· The housing shortage that fueled competition and resulted in sky-high price gains throughout 2017 and the first half of 2018 is on the horizon yet again, and supply could potentially hit a new low.
· The number of for-sale listings was up 2.8% annually in June, but that was down from May’s 2.9% gain. Inventory gains began to slow this year from 6.4% growth in January to 5.8% in February.
· Gains continued to slow throughout the spring and supply is now expected to flatten over the next three months and could hit its first decline in October of this year, according to Realtor.com.
The report mentions that millennials still want to be homeowners, but perceived circumstances are often keeping them in rental housing. The top 5 growing suburbs are shown below.
Opportunities, Obstacles, Challenges for MHVille?
There are also warnings but also opportunities for manufactured home professionals in this report.
For example, the snapshot of ‘where Americans live’ from Pew Research – shown below – reflects one of the reasons why manufactured housing professionals need to press the issue of access to suburban and more urban infill opportunities.
Land use, zoning, placement, NIMBY, and related are all issues that must be addressed.
If the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) were focused on pressing enhanced preemption, and if their surrogates did so too, along side the efforts of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) and others who already push for implementation of that provision that is already federal law, it could bring about millions of possible openings for manufactured housing sales.
That could be accomplished apart from MHI help, if HUD starts to flex its legal muscle and apply the enhanced preemption provision of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000.
Millions of housing units are needed. Single family living is desired by many. The latest reported data points to more reasons why manufactured homes should be soaring, instead of sliding.
Manufactured Housing Production and Shipments, Official HUD Data, Report for May 2019
It all begs the question, is manufactured housing being hobbled from within? Is it due to ineptness? A desire to constrain and thereby consolidate the market? See the related reports for more.
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Soheyla is a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
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MHARR Cautions Congress on Two Unnecessary And Damaging Manufactured Home Bills | Manufactured Housing Association Regulatory Reform
Washington, D.C., July 1, 2019 – The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) in a June 26, 2019 communication to both houses of Congress (copies attached), has called on legislators to take no action on pending proposed bills that are at best unnecessary and, at worst, harmful and damaging to both the mainstream HUD Code manufactured housing industry and the lower and moderate-income American families that rely on those homes for affordable homeownership.
White House Announces Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers To Affordable Housing | Manufactured Housing Association Regulatory Reform
MHARR participated in a conference call on June 25, 2019, conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), during which White House officials announced the impending issuance of an Executive Order (EO) to create a “White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing.”
