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.

Rent Control in MHCs too Expensive to Maintain

Capitola-SoquelPatch reports the Capitola (CA) City Council voted 3-2 to repeal its rent control ordinance on MHCs, after twice postponing the vote several months ago. Over a dozen community members and residents protested with signs. Residents of Surf and Sand Mobile Home Park reached their own settlement and agreed not …

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San Francisco: Home Sales Up, Home Prices Fall

HousingWire reports from San Francisco that while the number of houses sold increased Sept. 2010 to Sept. this year by 6.6 percent, the usual Aug.-Sept. seasonal drop in home prices was 10.2 percent. John Walsh, president of DataQuick says what’s interesting is what is not happening. He says, “While there …

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Positive Consumer Spending Sends Dow Up

CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average responded to good news from the consumer sector, gaining 166.36 points, 1.45%, to end the week at 11,644.49. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite Value 0.34 percent to close at 728.80. Housing stocks in general closed mostly up. Affiliated Managers Group 85.67 +1.55 …

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Bank’s Lawsuit against Clerk’s Office Settled

wvlegal reports an improperly recorded financing statement issued by the Gilmer County Clerk’s Office led to a bank being co-defendant in a lawsuit brought against two modular home builders in March 2010. Modular builder New Horizon Home Sales of Athens, WVa, and Gilmer Housing Partners (GHP) allegedly defaulted on a …

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Modular Home Design Course #101 for Buyers

builder reports a consumer friendly user interface to customize your own modular home is now available on line. Borrowing from automotive and aeronautical design and engineering departments, as well as gaming developers, modular builder Blu Homes of Waltham, MA has developed the Configurator, allowing customers to visualize the interior and …

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Australia Looking Closely at Modular Housing

dailytelegraph tells us from Sydney, Australia, the U.S. is not the only country where the gap between income and real estate prices is widening. Sydney’s home prices are expected to rise 19 percent in the next three years, to a median of $770,000. “The big problem with affordability is housing …

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Woman Gets Stiff Sentence for Stiffing Modular Home Buyers

nola reports a 61-year old Louisiana woman has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for defrauding modular home buyers out of some $200,000 in a post-Katrina scam. Cecilia Slattery filed articles of incorporation in 2008 for JCV, dba New Era Homes, and befriended ten people by buying them dinners …

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Massive Flooding Seals Fate of Modular Manufacturer

RepublicanHerald reports from Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, that modular home manufacturer Manorwood Homes, Inc., is shutting its doors permanently following the devastating floods in early September from Tropical Storm Irene. A modular home builder for 16 years here in east central PA, 100 people lost their jobs. Manorwood manager Wayne Morris …

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Two Factory-built Producers Pursuing Multifamily Market

MarketWatch reports Champion Commercial Structures, a division of Champion Homes, is teaming up with USModular to engage in multifamily construction projects. The pairing will bring Champion’s modular production process together with USModular’s general contacting experience. Dan McMurtrie, corporate development vice president with Champion, says, “”Our partnership with US Modular allows …

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Dow Loses a Little Steam, as Housing Stocks Close Mixed

CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average stepped back from its recent gains and dropped -40.72 points to close at 11,478.13, down -0.35 percent. The poor earnings report from JPMorgan Chase contributed to the fall. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite Value lost -0.36 percent to close at 726.30. Affiliated …

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MHARR: HUD is Overstepping MHCC

MHProNews has received a brief from Danny Ghorbani, President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), which says the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is expanding its in-plant regulation presence, and disrupting the relationship between Primary Inspection Agencies (PIAs), housing manufacturers, and HUD. As …

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New Hampshire House “Drowns” Sprinklers in MH

The Boston Globe reports the Associated Press says, following the same action in the state senate last month, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that prevents local communities from regulating sprinklers. Gov. John Lynch had vetoed the bill, but the House overrode his veto 266-61. The legislation …

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Loan Rates, Loan Values Show Incremental Change

HousingWire reports the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) says the measure of loan application volume rose 1.3 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis this past week. The refinance and purchase indices each increased just over one percent, driven by government loans. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) increased 0.07% to 4.25, while the …

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Bank Stocks Lead Dow Up, Many Housing Stocks Follow

CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.55 points, gaining +.90%, to end the day at 11,518.85, led by bank stocks and renewed hopes for the European debt crisis to resolve. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite Value climbed +0.87% to close at 728.90, as many housing stocks gained …

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FHA’s Carol Galante is Galloping

OriginationNews reports that two years after leaving affordable housing developer Bridge Housing Corporation to run the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) multi-family program, Carol Galante is operating the entire agency. After David Stevens left the FHA to head the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA), Galante has become the acting commissioner. She now …

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Modular Homes to Dot Hawaii Farmland?

BloombergBusinessWeek reports Honolulu City Councilman Tom Berg has proposed building modular housing on agricultural lands in Oahu as a means to meet the demand for affordable housing. He suggests allowing the homes to remain there for up to five years, and that the cost of leasing would be similar to …

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Texas Wildfire Survivors to Inhabit FEMA Homes

MHProNews has learned that several dozen Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA )manufactured homes have arrived in Texas for people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the wildfires that ravaged Texas in late summer. These temporary homes will be placed as close as possible to the houses the survivors …

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MHC Owner Gets Utility Break from City

IBerkshires reports from Williamstown, Massachusetts, the Board of Selectmen voted to give an MHC a deduction for their water and sewage bill due to the damage from Tropical Storm Irene. All 273 people were displaced from the 225 homes, and the owner of the Spruces Mobile Home Park, Morgan Management, …

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Housing Market Still Hugging the Ground

HousingWire reports from Zillow that housing prices gained a meager 0.01 percent August over July, with minimal gains in only 68 of the 157 markets covered. The average home price dropped 4.5 percent from August 2010 to $172,600, and is off 28.3 percent since the high mark of June 2006. …

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Florida Hit with Another Wave of MHC Deals

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports Saralake Estates LLC was sold to NHCFL138 LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, for $10.55 million. The purchase of the 200 homesite MHC was financed by General Electric Capital Corporation with a loan of $7.35 million. The new owner, a company controlled by National RV Communities LLC, has …

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