Matthew Silver

Following a 25-year career operating a custom hardwood furnishing business and occasional writing, Matthew Silver has been writing professionally for over a dozen years, six of those for the factory-built housing industry. Otherwise, he may be found performing folk music in the Indianapolis area.

Blu Going for Green

gigaom reports modular home producer Blu Homes has raised $60 million through global equity investment fund manager Skagen Group of the Netherlands. Blu bought the intellectual property rights and modular designs from Michelle Kaufmann Designs last year after that company closed its doors in 2009. As MHProNews reported Jan. 16, …

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Sudden Resignations Put Zell Back in Driver’s Seat

therealdeal informs MHProNews that Sam Zell, CEO of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. has taken the helm of Equity International in the wake of the sudden departure of its CEO and co-founder Gary Garrabrandt, and chief strategic officer Thomas McDonald. Equity International primarily invests in or buys existing real estate companies …

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All Three Indexes Rally Big; Housing Stocks close Mixed or Even

The Federal Reserve’s new bond-buying plan shook the cobwebs loose from the stock market, rallying the Dow and the S&P to their highest closing levels since Dec. 2007, and the Nasdaq rose to its highest point since Nov. 2002. CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 1.55 percent, 206.51 …

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Dodd-Frank Act is No Straight Shot

originationnews reports banks under the $10 billion threshold for compliance with the ever-shifting Dodd-Frank Act are unsure of which aspects of the measure apply to them, and are outsourcing because their own IT departments cannot keep track of the provisions that are delayed and/or rewritten. Cashmere Valley Bank in Washington …

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Mortgage Apps Rise

nationalmortgagenews (NMN) tells MHProNews the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says mortgage applications jumped 11 percent for the week ending Sept. 7 after several weeks of decline. Noting the holiday may have given potential borrowers an extra day to apply online, the trade group says refinancings accounted for 80 percent of …

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UMH Expanding its Portfolio

Benzinga says UMH Properties, Inc. has announced it has acquired two manufactured housing communities in Ohio for $5.9 million, bringing their ownership of MHCs to 55 communities comprised of approximately 10,400 homesites. The 280 sites, situated on 62 acres, average 89 percent occupancy. UMH President Samuel A. Landy says the …

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Large MHC Approved for Odessa

oaoa reports the Odessa, Texas City Council approved plans for a 100 acre, 1,000 plus homesite manufactured housing community to ease the shortage of housing in the city. Odessa Mayor Larry Melton says, with rental rates going through the ceiling, “It’s a temporary solution to an existing problem,” adding the …

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Florida Modular Homes Headed to Canada

FloridaToday reports Deland, Florida-based ConSol International, LLC is shipping eight modular homes from Port Canaveral to an indigenous First Nation community in Labrador, part of Newfoundland on the Atlantic Coast of Canada. Con Sol’s co-owner Chris Wallington says he typically uses the Port of Jacksonville, to ship his modular homes, …

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MHCs in Iowa cannot become Co-ops

Joe Kelly, executive vice-president of the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association (IAMHA), informs MHProNews that the Iowa Department of Revenue has notified local governments that land lease communities are not structured to qualify as co-ops under Iowa Code 499A. As a residential classification, co-ops pay only about half the taxes of …

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Nobility Spikes; Housing Composite, other Tracked Stocks Move Little

After falling to 13,320 earlier in the day and then climbing quickly to just over 13,360, CNNMoney says the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally settled for a very modest gain of +0.07 percent, +9.99 points, to end hump day at 13,333.35. The Nasdaq edged up +0.32 percent to 3,114.31, while …

Nobility Spikes; Housing Composite, other Tracked Stocks Move Little Read More

UMH to Present Overview

YAHOO! Finance says Eugene W. Landy, Chairman of the Board, and Samuel A. Landy, President of UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) of Freehold, New Jersey, will present an overview of the company to the Philadelphia Securities Association at the Union League in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wed. Oct. 10, 2012. The luncheon meeting, …

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Amphibious Homes Being Built in High-risk Flood Areas

PattayaDailyNews from Bangkok, Thailand in Southeast Asia tells MHProNews the National Housing Authority is utilizing modular components such as doors, walls, windows, and roofing supports, to build homes that can float during flooding. Due to global warming and rising seas, it is anticipated Bangkok will be partially or wholly underwater …

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Modular Homes from Idaho going to Northern British Columbia

From Canada, TumblerRidgeNews in north east British Columbia tells MHProNews Triland International is building a series of modular duplexes in Tumbler Ridge, the first major new housing project in that area. The top housing unit will have two bedrooms and two baths, while the bottom dwelling will feature three bedrooms …

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Sun Communities Announces Public Offering

Benzinga reports that Sun Communities, Inc. (SUI:NYSE) has begun an underwritten offering of 3,000,000 million shares of common stock, with a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase an additional 450,000 shares. Sun intends to use the proceeds to pay down debt, fund possible future acquisitions, and for general corporate …

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Low Wage Growth = Slow Economic Rebound

CNNMoney tells MHProNews the unemployment rate not only hurts those looking for work, it also hurts those with jobs. Why? Employers have no incentive to give raises because they know workers have few options. Hourly wages dropped by one cent in August, which indicates workers have little or no bargaining …

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All Three Indexes Nudge Up, Sun Falls the Most

CNNMoney says caution continued to hover in the wind on Wall Street as investors awaited word from the European market and the Federal Reserve later this week, but this time sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average up to 13,323.36, gaining +69.07 points, +0.52 percent. The Nasdaq edged up +0.02 percent …

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Housing Crisis Tab: Nearly a Year’s GDP

HousingWire reports Ann Fulmer, with fraud analytics firm Interthinx, said the nation’s housing meltdown, with all the mortgage-backed securities litigation, bailouts, lost home equity, and lawsuits cost $13 trillion, almost as much as the $15 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) for 2011. Speaking at a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) gathering, …

Housing Crisis Tab: Nearly a Year’s GDP Read More

New Roof System Saves Energy Expense

GizMag reports a new roof and attic system developed by the Dept. of Energy that can be retrofitted to existing homes could save homeowners $100 a year, offsetting the $100 to $300 typically lost annually because of poorly sealed heating and cooling ducts that leak conditioned air into attics. Developed …

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Dodd-Frank not Likely to Vanish

BloombergBusinessWeek says while Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal Dodd-Frank, it’s more likely he would water down some of the restrictions on the most lucrative and profitable investments while providing sufficient oversight to protect the banks. Specifically, banks would toss restrictions on investments in private equity and …

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Jobs, Jobs, and Fewer Jobs

BloombergBusinessWeek says just two months before the presidential election, the U.S. economy added only 96,000 jobs in August, indicating recovery from the recession still has a lot of ground to cover. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, due to 368,000 leaving the work force, as the labor-force participation rate …

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