Information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS), now available in complete form for the first time on the internet, shows substantial new opportunities for both the manufactured housing industry and consumers of affordable housing if the industry would aggressively advance its cause and stature in Washington, D.C., and elevate manufactured housing to the role that it deserves in the nation’s housing opportunity and affordable housing programs.

On January 3, 2013, HUD issued a news release (see copy below) which links directly to the Census Bureau’s “American FactFinder” internet data access tool. That website contains a wealth of information regarding housing generally, including utilization, attributes and characteristics, as well as specific information categories focused exclusively on manufactured housing.

Among the many revealing facts from the internet data compilation, highlighted in the HUD news release are the following:

· The median year of construction for the nation’s 115 million occupied homes is 1974, with owner-occupied units being slightly newer (1976) than renter-occupied units (1972).

· The average cost of housing for American families is $927.00 per month, or 24% of total household income. The median cost for “new” residential construction is higher, at $1,340 per month, while renters paid an average of $845.00 per month for housing, representing 31% of their total household income.

· The median size of single-family detached homes, including manufactured homes is 1,800 square feet, with owner-occupied homes being larger (1,800 square feet) than renter-owned homes (1,300 square feet).

· In 2011, owners spent a median of $33.00 on routine maintenance.

These facts alone suggest that ample opportunities for robust industry growth and substantially expanded affordable housing choices ought to be available to the industry and its consumers both now and in the future. With the median age of the nation’s housing stock approaching 40 years, a growing population and routine maintenance of existing homes being neglected, as shown by yearly per household expenditures well under $100.00, the market should offer significant opportunities in the years ahead for the industry to be not only a major source of new housing for first-time homebuyers, but new replacement housing as well, for existing homeowners – especially given the price advantages and savings offered by manufactured homes in relation to other types of residential construction. As shown by other data in the AHS survey, manufactured homes sold as replacement housing could offer existing home owners access to newer, more modern and more spacious designs and features that are clearly in demand at a more affordable price than are available in other types of homes.

To achieve the full potential indicated by this data, however, will require an industry effort to marshal and assert all of its assets and advantages in a new and different approach in the nation’s capital, where HUD Code housing is currently regulated under standards that stifle its full evolution and utilization by consumers, and misguided, outdated and unjustified federal policies that bar untold numbers of potential home buyers from accessing the purchase financing that they need to buy a new, high-quality manufactured home. Such an effort is needed to advance new, creative and innovative approaches to change the dynamics that have stalled industry growth, open new markets for the industry and expand the housing and home financing opportunities available to its consumers.

MHARR, in its own continuing effort to seek new ways to mobilize and assert the HUD Code industry’s assets and advantages – in order to more effectively compete with other segments of the housing industry that have thus far been able to stifle recognition and full utilization of those assets and advantages at a policy level in Washington, D.C. — has been researching and analyzing several new and different approaches, some of which will be published soon.

Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR)