Marcus & Millichap’s Michael Glass says for commercial real estate investors seeking to diversify their portfolio, the stabilizing housing market and resurgence in financing can make manufactured housing communities a good investment. In particular he notes age-restricted MHCs in prime markets are not increasing in number, leading to competition among buyers for those properties, which in turn is leading to investors turning to B and C markets. Speaking to GlobeStreet, Glass says, “A lot of REITs are coming into the game and investors are becoming more sophisticated and looking to diversify. Once they learn about manufactured housing and the returns, a lot of them realize they can diversify their portfolios and go into manufactured housing.” He adds low interest rates, continued demand for manufactured home ownership and limited development of new MHCs will lead to sales increases and stronger operations, especially in the rental market. MHProNews has learned nine of the metro areas with the lowest rental vacancy rates are cities in the Sunbelt, which is dotted with numerous age-restricted MHCs.
