MHMSM.com presents Factory Built Housing Industry News at Noon with Erin Patla.
We begin with these stories:
NEW YORK GOVERNOR David A. Paterson recently announced 23 awards totaling more than $6 million to not-for-profit housing agencies and local governments in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley that will help to build, rehabilitate or modify 371 homes for low-income families, people with disabilities and frail elderly homeowners and tenants. This year, three awards totaling $1.5 million in HOME funds were used to support the Manufactured Home Replacement Initiative (MHRI) in the Capital District. MHRI is a new program created to address the growing crisis of outdated, dilapidated and dangerous mobile and manufactured homes in New York. The state says manufactured homes are an extremely important part of the state’s affordable housing portfolio. More than 500,000 New Yorkers live in manufactured homes, more than twice the number in Mitchell-Lama Housing, which is the state’s largest housing program. The funding will help local program administrators replace dilapidated mobile homes with new, state-of-the-art, ENERGY STAR qualified manufactured homes.
CNN REPORTED THURSDAY that the number of properties entering the foreclosure process has dropped, and now nearly matches the number of repossessions. Realtytrac reported the number of homeowners falling enough behind on their loans to attract initial notices of default was down 30 percent in August. An AP story took a different lead from the report, however emphasizing that lenders took back more homes in August than in any month since the start of the U.S. mortgage crisis. In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3 percent from July and an increase of 25 percent from August 2009 according to Realtytrac. More than one million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year.
REP. SCOTT GARRETT (R-NJ) Wednesday delivered the opening statement during the House Financial Services Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee hearing entitled “The Future of Housing Finance: A Progress Update on the GSEs.” Garrett commented that it has been more than two years since Fannie and Freddie were put into conservatorship and the discussion was beginning much later than it should have. “Fannie and Freddie are continuing to hemorrhage billions of dollars each quarter and with the possibility of a double dip recession and further home value declines, there is currently no end in sight,” Garrett said. “We need to be taking concrete steps right now to reduce the ongoing financial risk that Fannie and Freddie pose to the American taxpayer. One of those steps is to more rapidly increase the wind-down of the entities’ retained portfolio.”
IF YOU ARE ONE of the small businesses looking at using social media for promotion, you may be interested in a new report by eMarketer. Daily Twitter users who followed a brand were more than twice as likely as daily Facebook users who “liked” a brand to say they were more likely to purchase from the brand after becoming a social media follower. A February 2010 survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey also found that Twitter followers were more likely than Facebook fans to say they had an increased chance of buying or recommending the brands they connected with in social media. Be sure to read Bob Stovall’s Feature Article entitled “Online Marketing 1-2-3, Part 3 – Social Networking” now available at mhmsm.com.
“Up next, Manufactured Housing in the News…
But first, this podcast of News at Noon is sponsored in part by:
Precision Capital Funding, on the Web at CaptiveFinance.net. Precision Capital Funding earned the MHI 2010 Service Supplier of the Year Award.
For more information, email Kenneth Rishel at kennethrishel@captivefinance.net or call 217-971-3968.
Now, back to our stories.
Manufactured Housing in the news…
A VERY UPBEAT TELEVISION REPORT on manufactured and modular homes recently aired on News 14 Carolina. According to that report, the economy is helping to fuel a boom in the sales of modular and manufactured homes. The report touted the quality construction, high-tech advances in appliance efficiency, insulation and price advantages of modular and manufactured homes. Billy Peeples, the General Manager of Oakwood Homes in Greensboro, North Carolina, told the reporter sales there were up 28 percent since last year. Dr. Andrew Brod at the Bryan School of Business commented that lower-priced alternatives were expected to do well in a down economy. One resident said her electric bill is about a quarter of what it was in her older rental home, which was smaller.
FROM YAMHILL COUNTY IN OREGON comes another report that while home sales are in a slump, lower-cost manufactured homes are selling. The Yamhill Valley News Register cited Clayton Homes and Liberty Homes. Clayton reported a 22 percent increase in sales, and Liberty says production is beginning to pick up. According to the Oregon Manufactured Housing Association, however, the number of units actually manufactured in the state has fallen from more than 25,000 at its peak in 1998 to about 2,500 so far this year. Liberty official Ben Roche told the reporter the industry is supporting federal legislation that would offer rebates for owners of pre-1976 units to trade up to new units carrying Energy Star certification. He said it is hoping to get a rebate provision incorporated into the American Clean Energy and Security Act as an amendment.
WILSON HOMES OF ARKANSAS was named “2010 Sales Center of the Year” by the Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association (AMHA) during the organization’s 39th Annual Meeting and Convention, held recently in Little Rock, AR. The family-owned-and-operated retail sales facility received the state trade association’s highest business honor for outstanding service to the industry and the organization. Wilson Homes was recognized, in part, for the great pride that its personnel take in the appearance of their sales center. Nominations come from AMHA members, and qualified entries are judged upon: overall appearance of the operation, business activity, professional and community involvement and service to the Association.
FROM TAMPA BAY ONLINE we learn that power was restored Wednesday afternoon to a mobile home park that was found to have electrical safety violations. The trouble began when Tampa Electric Co. went to the Easy Living Mobile Home Park to activate power to a mobile home, but discovered exposed electrical boxes instead. The company then cut power to 23 homes in the community. A spokesperson for the utility company told the paper that the property owner had removed 40 homes, but left meter sockets exposed. The issue has been corrected.
THE ILLINOIS MANUFACTURED HOUSING ASSOCIATION will be holding a Finance Seminar October 21, 2010, at the Northfield Inn and Suites in Springfield, Illinois. Registration is open to members and non-members alike. Greg O’Berry, CEO of Hometown America and in-coming chairman of the National Communities Council will be the keynote speaker speaking on the State of the Industry. Registration can be found by calling the Illinois Manufactured Housing Association at 217-528-3423 and requesting a registration brochure.
In Market News…
STOCKS BEGAN THE DAY THURSDAY lower, but turned around in the last hour of trading to end up 23 points. Most manufactured housing stocks on our watchlist ended the day lower with Palm Harbor Homes closing down more than seven percent, Skyline Corp closing down more than five percent and All American Group off more than 13 percent. The Barnes Group and Deer Valley closed higher. The manufactured housing composite value was off more than three percent.
“On behalf of Production and IT Manager Bob Stovall, Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Associate Editor Catherine Frenzel, INdustry in Focus reporter Eric Miller, and the entire MHMSM.com writing and support team, this is Erin Patla. G’day!”