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. …
The National Mortgage News reports the acting head of the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau (CFPB), Raj Date, speaking at the annual Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) convention, offered to work with the bankers to help resolve the housing crisis. But MBA President David Stevens, noting their responsibility in creating the crisis, …
Bloomberg reports Peter R. Orszag, vice chairman of global banking at Citigroup and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the weak housing market holds down the weak economy, and vice versa. He says the quickest path to economic recovery would be for the government to …
Immediate Depreciation for Abandoned House Investment Could Spur Economy Read More
The Seattle Times reports longtime Seattle architect Gordon Walker’s contemporary modular home on Orcas Island arrived on two flatbed trucks, one carrying the steel frame, the other the side panels. The home was assembled in seven days. A practicing architect for 49 years, he says, “I can’t find anything in …
Architect: Senior Housing Resembles Parking Garages Read More
villagesoup reports a survey of 3,000 renters and home owners showed 68 percent say it is a good time to buy a home, although the tight credit and uncertain job market continue to dog actual sales. “We thought people would be soured after watching home values fall, but instead we …
Would-be Homeowners Dream, Economy Screams, “Not Yet” Read More
DailyItem reports from Pennsylvania that two modular home builders, Integrity Building Systems Inc., of Milton, and Icon Legacy Custom Modular Homes LLC, of Selinsgrove, have agreed to merge operations by year’s end. Icon Legacy, owned by Don Stimley, has been in business four years in Selinsgrove. Stimley will lead the …
WorldPropertyChannel reports National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) assistant vice-president and economist Robert Dietz says eliminating or reducing the mortgage interest deduction (MID) would hurt the chances for younger families to buy homes, as well as damage the already shattered housing industry and the economy in general. Testifying before the …
BerksmontNews reports the MH retail business Leo Houck began along Old Route 22 west of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, is now located in Shoemakersville, just north of Reading, and is celebrating its fiftieth birthday. His daughter, Athian Wilson, took over the business after he passed away in 1973, and now operates it …
SustainableBusinessOregon reports Ideabox is developing a five-home neighborhood community based on the small homesite idea of manufactured housing communities. Founder and CEO Jim Russell says, “The goal was to take tiny lots and see what we can do with them. We’re trying to create a small, livable community. We wanted …
On Sept. 22, Danny Ghorbani of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) reports a joint delegation of MHARR and MHI (Manufactured Housing Institute)-member executives and staff met with Ms. Carol Galante, the new Acting HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Federal Housing Commissioner-Assistant Secretary for Housing. As reported previously …
Industry Association Members Meet with HUD Housing Commissioner Read More
The New York Times reports when Pilar Proffitt and Robert Bristow received estimates of nearly $1 million for building a home for their family of five in rural Connecticut, they opted instead for a customized modular home that fit in with the dairy farm surroundings, and cost under $500k. The …
Modular House Customized to Blend with Rural Setting Read More
Bloomberg News reports sales of previously owned homes rose to 7.7 percent in August, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales of existing single-family homes rose to their highest level since January, rising 8.5 percent to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.47 million. The August figures compare to the …
Following up on a prior story about building inexpensive homes for the multitude of poor people across the globe, Eco-Business notes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) grad student Ying chee Chui’s modular design incorporates hollow brick walls, reinforcing steel bars, wooden box beams, and includes a central courtyard within …
Modular House Emerges from MIT’s Affordable Housing Initiative Read More
TruliaPro says the results of a recent survey show 80 percent of 2,207 American adults polled envision the purchase of a home in their lifetime. Despite the recent housing slump, concerns over employment, credit scores, and saving for a down payment, 65 percent of the respondents maintain home ownership continues …
HousingWire reports housing starts fell by 30,000 units on an annualized basis comparing July to August. August numbers show 571,000 starts, a drop of 5%, and a 5.8 percent decline from a year earlier when they hit 606,000 units on an annualized basis. Single-family unit starts dropped 1.4% for August, …
Housing Starts Fall in August, but Building Permits Rise Read More
In an op-ed piece in the Minot Daily News in Minot, North Dakota, Lance Kennedy, president of the North Dakota Manufactured Housing Association, says eight manufactured home communities, representing 800 homesites, were wiped out by the flooding of the Souris River earlier this spring. He says the government removed trash …
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says its monthly survey of builders’ confidence in the new home market showed a decline of one point from August’s rating of 15. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) has not gone above 16 nor dropped below 13 …
The Rapid City Journal reports from South Dakota that while a veteran developer’s plan to replace aging factory-built homes with new manufactured homes is a noble idea, the project falls short of meeting city codes. Bob Akers bought Deluxe Mobile Home Park and other MHCs from a bank after the …
Developer Eager to Replace Old Mobile Homes with New Manufactured Homes Read More
Bloomberg News reports that Bank of America (B of A), the nation’s largest mortgage servicer, has a solution for disposing of the worst abandoned and foreclosed homes. B of A will work with a local agency in Cleveland to demolish 100 homes. Gus Frangos, president of the Cleveland-based Cuyahoga County …
Proven Method of Ridding the Market of Unwanted Foreclosed Homes: Bulldoze Read More
Sources tell MHMSM.com that organizers for the Great Southwest Home Show (GSWHS) are considering two key moves. One is a change of dates, the other a possible change of venue. One possibility mentioned is to have the GSHW Show in February. “That would take the show out of competition …
