Mike Taylor of Pacific Manufactured Homes in Beaumont, California says the mix of those buying manufactured homes is shifting from first-time buyers to vacation or second-home buyers and to people downsizing who may be looking to retire. The California Manufactured Housing Institute (CMHI) reports 70 percent of the sales are being made to cash buyers not seeking entry-level homes, but to people who have sold their stick-built homes now that prices have risen to get them above water. Jess Maxcy, president of CMHI, says traffic in showrooms is up 25 percent, and shipments of new homes rose 24 percent in January and February over the same period last year, according to pe.com. The 44,203 manufactured home sales in 2013 in California (41,987 were sales of existing manufactured homes) represented an 11.2 increase over 2012. Costs for new homes have been running around $55 per square foot, MHProNews has learned, as opposed to around $100 per square foot for a comparable site built home. ##

(Photo credit: nbcsandiego.com–manufactured homes)