Washington, D.C., March 4, 2019 – The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) reports that according to official statistics compiled on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), year-over-year HUD Code manufactured home production declined once again in January 2019. Just-released statistics indicate that HUD Code manufacturers produced 7,556 homes in January 2019 — up from the 5,943 homes produced in December 2018, but down, 12.5%, from the 8,636 homes produced in January 2018.

This downward trend — at a time when production of the industry’s inherently affordable homes should be increasing — points once again to headwinds that the industry faces as a result of discriminatory zoning and placement restrictions in many areas of the country, but most importantly, a continuing lack of market-significant support by the Government Sponsored Enterprises for the personal property (chattel) loans which comprise nearly 80% of all consumer loans for manufactured home purchases. All of this warrants reconsideration of existing industry policies and positions, and adjustments as appropriate. This entire matter will be addressed at MHARR’s upcoming Board of Directors meeting.

A further analysis of the official industry statistics shows that the top ten shipment states from the beginning of the industry production rebound in August 2011 through January 2019  — with cumulative, monthly, current year (2019) and prior year (2018) shipments per category as[/vc_column_text][vc_table vc_table_theme=”classic”][align-center]State,Cumulative,[align-center]Current%20Month%20(Jan.%202019),[align-center]2019,[align-center]2017|[align-center]Texas,87%2C805%20homes,[align-center]1298,[align-center]1%2C298,[align-center]1%2C881|[align-center]Louisiana,32%2C745%20%20homes,[align-center]282,[align-center]282,[align-center]451|[align-center]Florida,29%2C262%20%20homes,[align-center]592,[align-center]592,[align-center]497|[align-center]Alabama,20%2C887%20%20homes,[align-center]389,[align-center]389,[align-center]787|[align-center]N.C,19%2C753%20homes,[align-center]413,[align-center]413,[align-center]375|[align-center]California,17%2C567%20homes,[align-center]364,[align-center]364,[align-center]345|[align-center]Mississippi,17%2C530%20%20homes,[align-center]204,[align-center]204,[align-center]351|[align-center]Michigan,16%2C876%20%20homes,[align-center]392,[align-center]392,[align-center]333|[align-center]Kentucky,15%2C694%20%20homes,[align-center]176,[align-center]176,[align-center]302|[align-center]Tennessee,13%2C518%20homes,[align-center]206,[align-center]206,[align-center]239[/vc_table][vc_column_text]The latest information for January 2019 moves California into 6^thplace on the cumulative top-ten list, while Mississippi drops to 7^thplace on the cumulative shipments list.

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the views and interests of independent producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing.