News Reports: Housing news updates and reports for Manufactured Home and Modular Housing Industry professionals and investors. Business – daily fact checks, market reports, and analysis.
Following up on a story we published here March 17, Bloomberg reports that Bruce Ratner, CEO and chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer of the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, New York, plans to borrow $100 million to construct the 34-story modular apartment building. Thirty percent of the 400 …
RVBusiness says that real estate investment trust (REIT) Sun Communities, Inc., of Southfield, Michigan, acquired Orange City RV Resort in Orange City, Florida, for $6.47 million cash. Orange City has 517 RV sites and is less than 50 miles to Disney World and the Daytona Beach area. According to the …
HousingWire reports that a survey of over 1,000 borrowers by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) revealed half could not afford the required 20 percent down payment under the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) plan, despite housing prices being at record lows. USA Today‘s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data …
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that eleven new manufactured homes are being showcased as examples of green technology applied to manufactured housing. Built with a combination of federal funds and local redevelopment dollars as part of an affordable housing initiative, the units have solar cells for energy and water …
California City Backs Green, Affordable Manufactured Homes Read More
Staff members of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) met May 26 with Acting HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Assistant Secretary for Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner Bob Ryan, and career officials of the HUD manufactured housing program. Issues included consumer financing, changing HUD’s “trailer” orientation to “housing” …
Chicago Real Estate Daily reports that Sam Zell’s Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) is adding 31,167 home sites to its portfolio of 111,002 home sites by buying 76 land lease communities (LLC) from Hometown America LLC, its Chicago-based competition. The properties are spread over 20 states. ELS will finance the $1.4 …
Equity LifeStyle Properties Acquires Chunk of Competitor Read More
The Dow gained 128.21 points on the day to close at 12,569.79, even though the month showed an overall loss of less than two percent since May 1. Housing stocks were also on the plus side. Palm Harbor Homes ended the day up 13.64 percent, Deer Valley climbed 11.11 percent, …
Dow Ends Day Up, Month Down; Housing Stocks Close Up Read More
Zacks reports that SmarTrend says of the five top residential real estate investment trusts (REITs) with the highest free cash flow (FCF) per share, two are land lease community (LLC) owners. Equity Lifestyle Properties ranks in the top spot with free cash flow per share of 3.76x, and is also …
Bloomberg says the S&P (Standard & Poor) Case/Shiller index of home prices fell in March 3.6 percent from March 2010, registering the biggest year-to-year decline since November 2009. Housing prices are the lowest since 2003 according to this survey of 20 U.S. cities. The first quarter of the year saw …
Foreclosures Provide Slippery Slope for Home Prices Read More
The United Kingdom’s 24Dash reports that Powerwall has developed a three-bedroom energy efficient modular house for £57,000 (just under $95,000), excluding land and foundation, to help meet affordable housing needs in England. The house comes equipped with finished interiors, bathrooms and kitchens, and the estimated annual fuel cost is just …
SmallCap Network recommends three manufactured housing stocks as smart buys , because at some point the housing industry will pick up, and now is the time to “join the party.” It says Cavco Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVCO), is a good buy for the short term, but not the long term. The …
The Boston Globe reports the only community of factory-built homes in Boston sits on the Charles River and is owned by the residents. The 104 unit community just received word from Mayor Thomas Menino that the city will invest $815,000 to upgrade sewers, roads and electric power lines. The article …
Boston’s Sole Community of Factory-built Homes Gets Good News Read More
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that architect Michelle Kaufmann, termed “the Henry Ford of green homes” by the Sierra Club, says in order to attract people to energy efficient modular homes, we have to make it less expensive to live in than what people are paying now. She says we …
Price Modular Green Housing Reasonably, says Architect Read More
Stocks finished the week with modest gains, with trading volume light ahead of the long holiday weekend. The Dow closed up .31 percent on light volume to end the week at 12,441.58, while housing stocks closed mixed. MSCI gained .52 percent, Sun communities was up .44 percent, and ELS posted …
Stock Market Ends Light Before Long Holiday Weekend Read More
Yahoo! Finance reports the index that measures sales agreements for previously occupied homes fell 11.6 percent in April to 81.9, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A count of 100 is considered healthy. The last time the index hit 100 was April 2010, the last month when people …
Sale of Previously Occupied Homes Half that of 1963 Read More
Bloomberg reports that manufactured housing shipments for March rose at a seasonally adjusted rate to 47,000, up 3,000 over February, and the highest in six months. On a seasonally adjusted rate, placements dropped 5,000 units February to March, and dealer inventory remained stable at 22,000. The average sales price increased …
Manufactured Housing Shipments Increased for March Read More
The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) says it and the National Communities Council (NCC) met with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) representatives to discuss a federal program to develop and rehabilitate manufactured housing communities. Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) 207(m) is a mortgage insurance program for owners and developers to obtain financing. …
WNEP 16 reports from east central Pennsylvania that a modular home builder near Selinsgrove moved into a facility vacated by a previous modular home builder last year in Snyder County. Durabuilt owner Kevin Hahn says they have already hired 20 additional workers since opening, increasing production by 40 percent. Despite …
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) First Vice-chairman Barry Rutenberg says while the NAHB supports modernizing the nation’s housing finance system, it opposes several bills in the House and Senate that would end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without providing some type of government backstop. He says, “Maintaining a continuing …
“Housing Built in Alabama for Alabama Citizens,” is what Sherry Norris, Executive Director of the Alabama Manufactured Housing Association says about an exciting project taking place right now. She sent word to MHMSM that two blocks of dilapidated housing were cleared in Montgomery, Alabama, to make way for a series …
