Joe Kelly, executive vice president of the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association (IMHA), informs MHProNews only 43 manufactured homes were ordered by retailers in Iowa during Q1, 2014—just six in the month of January—a drop of 15 homes, 26 percent, compared to the same period in 2013. For the last three years Kelly notes over 50 percent of the homes sold were single section homes, but for Q1 of this year only 44 percent were for single- section homes.

Modular homes were also off in the first quarter—73 mods as opposed to 95 in 2013, falling to rank number 13 out of the 34 states in the north central region, a drop from eighth place for the quarter. Last year Iowa was in seventh place among the states for modular homes. However, the state ranked fourth in modular as a percentage of all residential construction permits for the first quarter, 2014, behind North Dakota, Maine and Montana. Iowa ranked twelfth for all of last year in residential construction permits. ##

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