CNNMoney says mortgage rates are low and houses are cheap, but only the well-heeled borrowers qualify, and they typically need 20 percent down. The Federal Reserve says 25 percent of people who apply for financing are turned down, even good borrowers with one of two late payments are being denied. …
HousingWire reports the American Bankers Association (ABA) told the House Financial Services Committee that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) needs the checks and balances of a commission to head the massive agency instead of just the director. Speaking for the ABA, Leslie Anderson, of Bennington Bank in Nebraska, …
Bankers Say CFPB Should Be Directed by a Commission Read More
The Creative Coast reports that the Adaptable System for Universal Living (ASUL) was featured on the cover of the April 2011 issue of Builders News Magazine for its modular designs based on the Midcentury Home steel construction methods of Pierre Koenig. He designed the famed Stahl House in California with …
Modular Library Based on Modern Steel Buildings of Pierre Koenig Read More
The National Association of Home Builders documented the contribution of building 100 single family homes in a typical metro area for one year. The year impact includes $21.1 million in local income, $2.2 million in taxes, and 324 jobs. Half of the jobs are in construction, the other half extend …
From Boston/SF comes word that people traveling to work on busy Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, just north of Boston, may have been surprised returning home to see a house on what was a vacant lot that morning. Westchester Modular Homes of Greater Boston (WMHGB) installed a new 2,900 square …
Fear of rising inflation and the subsequent raising of interest rates by the Fed caused stocks to stumble at day’s end. The Dow lost .05 percent to end the day at 12,393.83. Nobility Homes gained 8.19 percent, Cavco was up 1.56 percent and Skyline Corporation moved up 1.30 percent. Deer …
The Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota reports the Arrowhead Home and Builder’s Show will feature a manufactured home brought into Pioneer Hall. Contractors will finish off the drywall and painting of the home for the several thousand visitors who are expected to tour the house. Craig Tobias, president of Bullyan …
Gulf Live reports from Ocean Springs, Mississippi that the Cottages at Oak Park, a 29-unit modular housing complex going up near downtown, will feature affordable one, two, and three bedroom homes, some two stories. The energy efficient homes will withstand 145 mile per hour winds, and will have steel roofs …
Statesman says Palm Harbor Homes announced it will close its Kyle, Texas, manufacturing plant in early June, idling 129 employees. The company filed bankruptcy last November, and was acquired by Cavco Industries through its Fleetwood subsidiary under a bankruptcy court auction in March for $84.9 million. Palm Harbor has eight …
HousingWire reports that while the House Financial Services Committee has proposed eight bills to revamp Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, securities broker Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) say the legislation will do little to promote mortgages moving to the private sector from the GSEs (government sponsored enterprises). Instead it deals …
Yahoo!Finance reports that Nobility Homes (NASDAQ: NOBH) received a letter of non-compliance from NASDAQ because the company did not timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. It failed to comply with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5250 (c)(1) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the period ending Feb. 5, …
HousingWire says the Obama administration’s housing scorecard shows gain, but not yet a win. Prime and subprime mortgage delinquencies, and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) delinquencies, all declined from a year ago. The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Treasury Departments, also said properties receiving a notice of default declined from …
The Dow registered a small gain of .09 percent to close at 12,400.03. In housing stocks, Skyline Corp. gained 2.38 percent and Cavco was up 1.36 percent. Nobility Homes and Deer Valley remained flat. The Manufactured Housing Composite gained 1.54 percent to end the day at 1134.60.
Zacks reports that Encore Wire Corporation (NYSE: WIRE) saw revenue increase in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $265 million from $177 million for the same 2009 period. Encore makes a variety of copper electrical wire for residential and commercial building, including manufactured housing. Although copper increased 31 percent for …
Word on the street coming to MHMSM.com says the first quarter manufactured home shipments in 2011 continued to slide. “It will be a rough first quarter,” a normally reliable source said.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel says a large water pipe that ruptured underneath a factory-built housing community, followed by drenching rains, damaged several homes and drove all 26 residents from the flooded community in Capitola, California. The March 24 drenching forced an elderly man to climb a hill behind his …
Rushing Waters Send CA Residents Streaming from Homes Read More
From Vermont, the Bennington Banner reports Barber’s Pond Mobile Home Park is being sold to settle two estates, and residents have 45 days to either buy it or find a non-profit to buy it. Come May 7, the owners must try to sell the Pownal, VT, property for no less …
HousingWire reports mortgages classified as seriously delinquent fell at the end of 2010 to a level not seen since the second quarter of 2009, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Completed foreclosures decreased by almost 50 percent, and …
Seriously Delinquent Mortgages Fall, but Increased Foreclosures Likely Read More
The Estevan Mercury says a new subdivision being planned to meet the housing needs of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, will have a mix of conventional and modular homes in various styles. Located just north of the North Dakota line, the initial phase of the Meadows of Estevan calls for 100 home …
The nation’s institutional investors are happy to see the latest wave of good economic news. The United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that for the 4th quarter of 2010, the real gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services, increased 3.1 percent over the 3rd …
