dailytelegraph tells us from Sydney, Australia, the U.S. is not the only country where the gap between income and real estate prices is widening. Sydney’s home prices are expected to rise 19 percent in the next three years, to a median of $770,000. “The big problem with affordability is housing …
nola reports a 61-year old Louisiana woman has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for defrauding modular home buyers out of some $200,000 in a post-Katrina scam. Cecilia Slattery filed articles of incorporation in 2008 for JCV, dba New Era Homes, and befriended ten people by buying them dinners …
Woman Gets Stiff Sentence for Stiffing Modular Home Buyers Read More
RepublicanHerald reports from Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, that modular home manufacturer Manorwood Homes, Inc., is shutting its doors permanently following the devastating floods in early September from Tropical Storm Irene. A modular home builder for 16 years here in east central PA, 100 people lost their jobs. Manorwood manager Wayne Morris …
Massive Flooding Seals Fate of Modular Manufacturer Read More
MarketWatch reports Champion Commercial Structures, a division of Champion Homes, is teaming up with USModular to engage in multifamily construction projects. The pairing will bring Champion’s modular production process together with USModular’s general contacting experience. Dan McMurtrie, corporate development vice president with Champion, says, “”Our partnership with US Modular allows …
Two Factory-built Producers Pursuing Multifamily Market Read More
MHProNews has received a brief from Danny Ghorbani, President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR), which says the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is expanding its in-plant regulation presence, and disrupting the relationship between Primary Inspection Agencies (PIAs), housing manufacturers, and HUD. As …
OriginationNews reports that two years after leaving affordable housing developer Bridge Housing Corporation to run the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) multi-family program, Carol Galante is operating the entire agency. After David Stevens left the FHA to head the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA), Galante has become the acting commissioner. She now …
BloombergBusinessWeek reports Honolulu City Councilman Tom Berg has proposed building modular housing on agricultural lands in Oahu as a means to meet the demand for affordable housing. He suggests allowing the homes to remain there for up to five years, and that the cost of leasing would be similar to …
MHProNews has learned that several dozen Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA )manufactured homes have arrived in Texas for people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the wildfires that ravaged Texas in late summer. These temporary homes will be placed as close as possible to the houses the survivors …
IBerkshires reports from Williamstown, Massachusetts, the Board of Selectmen voted to give an MHC a deduction for their water and sewage bill due to the damage from Tropical Storm Irene. All 273 people were displaced from the 225 homes, and the owner of the Spruces Mobile Home Park, Morgan Management, …
HousingWire reports from Zillow that housing prices gained a meager 0.01 percent August over July, with minimal gains in only 68 of the 157 markets covered. The average home price dropped 4.5 percent from August 2010 to $172,600, and is off 28.3 percent since the high mark of June 2006. …
WSILTV in Pinckneyville, Illinois, reports 300 volunteers turned out at Contempri Industries, Inc. in Pinckneyville to help build a modular house for Joplin, Missouri, residents devastated by the May 22 EF-5 tornado that destroyed 7,000 homes. Some of the workers came up from Joplin to lend a hand. Part of …
Volunteers Build Modular House for Tornado Survivors Read More
The National Mortgage News reports the acting head of the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau (CFPB), Raj Date, speaking at the annual Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) convention, offered to work with the bankers to help resolve the housing crisis. But MBA President David Stevens, noting their responsibility in creating the crisis, …
Bloomberg reports Peter R. Orszag, vice chairman of global banking at Citigroup and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the weak housing market holds down the weak economy, and vice versa. He says the quickest path to economic recovery would be for the government to …
Immediate Depreciation for Abandoned House Investment Could Spur Economy Read More
RVBusiness says the Vancouver Sun reports a new community of factory-built micro cottages is being developed at Port Renfrew, British Columbia, in Canada. The first 40 unit phase of the Wild Coast Cottages Oceanside, each 400 square feet, is nearly sold out. The second, Water’s Edge at Wild Coast Cottages, …
The Seattle Times reports longtime Seattle architect Gordon Walker’s contemporary modular home on Orcas Island arrived on two flatbed trucks, one carrying the steel frame, the other the side panels. The home was assembled in seven days. A practicing architect for 49 years, he says, “I can’t find anything in …
Architect: Senior Housing Resembles Parking Garages Read More
MHProNews has obtained the official list of award winners from the 2011 Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) annual meeting held earlier this week in Phoenix AZ. MHI’s Chairman Award: Tim Williams, President, 21st Mortgage Corporation State Association Executive of the Year: Deanna Fields, Executive Director, Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma Jim …
ArgusLeader reports modular producer Builders Choice will open in Vermillion, South Dakota, later this month adding 30 jobs initially, with expectations to double that number by year’s end 2012. Company president Mark Larson says this site was chosen for the available labor, central location, and access to transportation. The Anchorage-based …
Alaska Modular Builder to Begin Production in S. Dakota Read More
DailyItem reports from Pennsylvania that two modular home builders, Integrity Building Systems Inc., of Milton, and Icon Legacy Custom Modular Homes LLC, of Selinsgrove, have agreed to merge operations by year’s end. Icon Legacy, owned by Don Stimley, has been in business four years in Selinsgrove. Stimley will lead the …
BerksmontNews reports the MH retail business Leo Houck began along Old Route 22 west of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, is now located in Shoemakersville, just north of Reading, and is celebrating its fiftieth birthday. His daughter, Athian Wilson, took over the business after he passed away in 1973, and now operates it …
SustainableBusinessOregon reports Ideabox is developing a five-home neighborhood community based on the small homesite idea of manufactured housing communities. Founder and CEO Jim Russell says, “The goal was to take tiny lots and see what we can do with them. We’re trying to create a small, livable community. We wanted …
