Tim Rood with the Collingwood Group was part of a CNBC discussion that pointed to factors that manufactured home professionals relate to: the many – and often competing – dynamics that cause someone to buy a home or stay in a rental. Elements such as price and interest rates, CNBC’s Diana Olick  tells MHProNews,  along with knowledge of options, down payments and access to credit all impact prospective home buyers.

Olick says, “There has long been a saying in the real estate market that potential homebuyers don’t buy according to the home price or the mortgage rate. Instead, “they buy the monthly payment.” The monthly payment is, of course, a combination of rate and price, but the weight of each can change dramatically.”

Olick described factors in the last boom and bust: “For example, home prices were able to soar uncontrollably during the last housing boom only because risky mortgage products at the time made monthly payments minuscule and down payments often nonexistent.”

MH professionals know that well intended, ‘corrective’ regulatory hurdles imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and/or states have in many cases harmed sales that would have taken place otherwise.  

For example, when a community operator or private money investor is willing to lend at a rate that still yields an affordable payment, but fails to fit the peghole regulators established, would-be sales are lost. This in turn keeps factories from building homes that would otherwise have been ordered by MH retailers, developers and communities to fill demand.

If Rood is correct, 5 to 6 million potential home sales represent a huge economic stimulus that would create millions of jobs. As demand on rentals would ease, monthly rates could be mitigated and housing affordability for millions more would improve.

Manufactured housing professionals can point to facts found in the recent GAO study which cites the lower monthly payment MH enjoys, combine it with stories of affordable quality living, to tap into more sales, to sway more opinion leaders and public officials.

“It never ceases to amaze me how hung up mortgage borrowers can be on rate,” said Matthew Graham of Mortgage News Daily. “In fact, a lot of times we have to remind them that the .125 percent difference in rate only amounts to X dollars and they’re surprised.” ##

(Image credit: Comstock/Getty/CNBC)

(Editor’s Note: A chart by FannieMae, published in this article here, underscores the relationship of price, rate and affordability for manufactured housing.)