In the month of February 2012, 4,139 new manufactured homes were shipped, up 43.5 percent from February 2011. Increases were across the board with shipments of both single-section and multi-section homes up compared with the same month last year. Single section homes accounted for the largest portion of the increase, with shipments up 60.4 percent compared with the February 2011 figures.

Compared with the prior year, 2012 recorded shipment increases in January and February. For the first two months of this year, shipments totaled 8,084 homes compared with 5,661 homes in 2011, a net increase of 42.8 percent.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of shipments was 63,111 in February 2012, up 2.1 percent from January 2012, which had 61,802 shipments. The SAAR corrects for normal seasonal variations in shipments and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.

Total floors shipped in February 2012 were 6,245, an increase of 38.0 percent over February 2011. The number of plants reporting production in February was 122, one more than last month.

The number of manufacturing companies stands at 46, also one up from January.