According to insidermonkey, Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE:SUI), a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates 184 manufactured housing and recreational vehicle communities, returns a higher dividend yield (5.0% versus 2.6% for Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.) and is more capital efficient (ELS has a higher capex-to-sales ratio of 4.1 % versus 2.6% for Sun) than its closest rival. For home buyers in search of low cost housing, the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) reports in 2011 the average sales price for a manufactured home was $60,600 compared to a site-built, single-family home cost of $207,950. In addition, average rent for Sun’s manufactured homes is $0.55 per square foot versus $0.92 per square foot for an apartment. But because most Sun residents own their own homes but rent the land, the company’s capital outlay is primarily for maintenance of common areas and amounts to less than three percent of its revenues for 2012, its most recent 10-K. As MHProNews knows, Sun has 67,000 developed homesites in 18 states.
