An item in the Financial Times likely raised an eyebrow or two this week when it dubbed a manufactured housing index the “trailer park indicator.” But it did come bearing good news. The financial index comes from Nicholas Colas, ConvergEx Group chief market strategist and is focused on manufactured housing, which as we have pointed out on numerous occasions, are not trailers. According to the index there has been a recent uptick in manufactured home shipments. According to Colas, who was quoted in the article, “the contours of the current recovery in this narrow part of the housing market likely inform the likely path of eventual recovery for the industry as a whole.” The report also conveys some interesting facts including one that assumes two people per household, which mean in effect there are almost 18 million people living in mobile homes (and manufactured homes) across America. “If they were all clustered into one state, it would be the 5th largest by population, well ahead of Illinois and just behind Florida.” The numbers are small, but Colas rightly asks “when was the last time you heard about anything in the housing sector print +30% comparisons?”
