MHMSM.com presents Factory Built Housing Industry News at Noon with Erin Patla.
We begin with these stories:
TO MOST PEOPLE these days, a trailer is a short preview of a movie. Unfortunately it’s still misused in some media reports where the words manufactured home belongs. The most recent culprit was none other than the Wall Street Journal. The September 30th report also used the word “mobile” in the headline, then in the first line says that manufactured homes are sometimes known to the public as “mobile homes or trailers.” Then came the biggest ouch: “Cheap credit for ‘site-built’ homes—those built outdoors—lured people with modest incomes away from trailer parks.” If trailers is an incorrect and derogatory term for manufactured homes, then trailer parks is an incorrect and derogatory term for land-lease communities or manufactured home communities. Famed Newspaper publisher Robert McCormick once said it’s the duty of a newspaper to lead public opinion. Perhaps that can be argued, but I’m sure we can agree it’s a newspaper’s duty to lead with the correct use of terms. As an educational service across the board for the media and others, MHMSM.com will soon be providing a glossary of proper Industry terms. MHMSM.com publisher and editor Tony Kovach takes an extensive look at the recent Wall Street Journal article in his The Masthead blog post for 10.4.2010.
IT’S BEEN SAID THAT as Manhattan goes, so goes the nation… CNNMoney reports home prices in Manhattan appear to be stabilizing — and even increasing. Condo and co-op prices rose between 7.5 percent and 14 percent in the last quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, according to a host of markets reports by big New York brokerage firms.
AS WAS REPORTED by National Mortgage News, multifamily construction soared by 53 percent during the month of August, according to new government figures. The comparison, compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, is to the same month a year ago. In the multifamily space, builders broke ground on 147,000 units (annualized) compared to 103,000 in July and just 96,000 in August of 2009. The figures suggest that builders believe American consumers may be shifting to rentals as opposed to home ownership, despite historically low mortgage rates and falling home prices. We’d like to note that Americans looking for alternatives to purchasing traditional homes would be good candidates for manufactured homes in land-lease communities as well… fulfilling the American Dream of home ownership with top quality at an affordable price.
FROM REAL ESTATE JOURNAL ONLINE, the federal home buyer’s tax credit may have been canceled last April, but first-time homebuyers may find help from FHA loans. These loans were originally meant for purchasing or refinancing owner-occupied residential properties, manufactured homes, and condominiums, but they can also be utilized to purchase first home. Whereas traditional loans dwindled during the economic crisis, FHA loans continued to thrive, making them extremely popular with first-time home buyers.
Modular housing in the news…
FROM BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, the European Union nation of Slovenia is reaching out to U.S. markets as a sort of Silicon Valley, offering the latest “green” technologies — from solar-powered modular homes and eco-savvy boats to LED lighting already being used in foreign luxury cars. Last week in New York, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor introduced 20 Slovenian companies at a separate business forum titled “Investing in Green.” Slovenia is being touted as an ecologically-minded country that has developed innovative technologies matching global needs. In one example, housing manufacturer RIKO has developed prefabricated structures with the famed French designer Philippe Starck that are powered by solar energy and constructed of wood that regulates humidity and provides natural insulation.
“Modular Housing in the News continues…”
But first, this podcast of News at Noon is sponsored in part by:
LifeStylist.com http://www.LifeStylist.com – Lifestyle Driven Designs by Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber. Furniture, Decors and Model Homes designed for your budgets and your customers’ lifestyles.
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Now, back to our stories.
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC recently highlighted some Phoenix-area entrepreneurs who they say are trying to turn homebuilding on its head. The article says revolutionary builders seek to shake up the faux-Tuscan-stucco and traditional tract-home paradigm while supplying affordable architectural design to the masses. The examples are numerous. Vincenz Saccento has just unveiled two prototypes of his 10-foot cube, the Mod Box, in downtown Phoenix. In Prescott, Tim Russell is showing three ASUL prefab spec homes built on infill lots. In Scottsdale, students at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture have created Mod.Fab, a prototype that showcases eco-friendly modern design; and on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix, two entrepreneurs are using recycled shipping containers to create affordable prefab homes.
Manufactured homes in the news…
FROM VICNEWS.COM , an attempt by Fisherman’s Wharf float-home owners to reverse big fee hikes has been quashed by the Residential Tenancy Branch. The ruling concludes float homes don’t fit under the same legislation that governs residential tenants in British Columbia. The dispute dates back to 2009, when the Fisherman’s Wharf Community Association appealed the dispute-resolution body available to tenants and landlords in B.C. Through their lawyer, float-home owners argued that, in essence, they live in a manufactured home community, and as such, should be granted the same rights as manufactured home owners. Specifically, they sought to cancel an additional rent increase, which they say is forcing long-time residents to sell their homes. Since 2002, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority increased moorage rates roughly 80 per cent.
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC reports that residents of Apollo Village in Peoria [Pee-OR-ee-uh] are upset that a number of recreational vehicles are being parked in their community. One resident says she was assured before she moved in that the RVs would not share the space in the 1970s retirement community. By special permit, Equity LifeStyle Properties has leased the space to RV owners. About six RVs are parked in the manufactured-home community. At the peak, during the Super Bowl in 2008, there were about 20, according to resident Floyd Krause. A city manager told the paper that under current zoning the RVs would not be allowed, but Apollo Village was built when old zoning codes were in place.
In business and market news…
SUN COMMUNITIES, INC, a real estate investment trust that owns and operates manufactured housing and recreational vehicle communities, announced Friday that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share for the third quarter of 2010. The dividend is payable October 22, 2010, to shareholders of record October 12, 2010. Sun Communities has 19.6 million shares outstanding. Sun Communities, Inc. is a REIT [Real Estate Investment Trust] that currently owns and operates a portfolio of 136 communities comprising approximately 47,600 developed sites.
EUGENE W. LANDY, Chairman of the Board of UMH Properties, Inc. also announced recently that on October 1, 2010, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share payable December 15, 2010, to shareholders of record at the close of business November 15, 2010. The Company’s annual dividend rate is $0.72 per share. UMH Properties, Inc., a publicly-owned real estate investment trust, owns and operates thirty manufactured home communities located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Tennessee. UMH has been in operation since 1968, operating as a public company since 1985.
STOCKS MOVED FORWARD into October as the Dow added 41 points Friday. Many manufactured housing and related stock also logged gains. Big gainers included Palm Harbor Homes, Global Diversified Industries and Nobility Homes. UMH Properties and Cavco recorded losses. The manufactured housing composite value rose .2 percent.
“On behalf of Production and IT Manager Bob Stovall, Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Associate Editor Catherine Frenzel, INdustry in Focus reporter Eric Miller, and the entire MHMSM.com writing and support team, this is Erin Patla. G’day!”