A half-billion dollar manufactured home deal with residents has been turned down, per exclusive remarks by an informed source to MHProNews’ sister site MHLivingNews. Before looking at that offer and manufactured housing more generally, a broader look at the conventional housing market is useful to frame the headlines for the week in review. During the first two months of 2023, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) data reported that building permits issued were roughly equivalent to 6 times the total number of HUD Code manufactured homes built in all of 2022. Housing starts rose in March, says NAHB, to a 1.42 million annual pace, or roughly 12 times the pace of manufactured homes produced in 2022. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) data below indicates that while resale or “existing” housing sales are slower than some prior years, they nevertheless dwarf those of mainstream HUD Code manufactured homes, which make up roughly 99.9 percent of all manufactured homes sold. The current pace of resales in the U.S., per NAR data reported below, is about the equivalent of 44 times the total of all manufactured home sales in 2022 combined. As a related insight indicated in one of the reports linked below for the recap of the ‘week that was,’ the data about so-called CrossMod© sales are so poor that it is apparently less than 0.1 of one percent. That is one of numerous insights this week unlikely to be found anywhere in MHVille or mainstream trade media besides MHProNews, including the eye-catching “Briny Breezes” offer and related details reported in MHLivingNews this week. Insights about the Kolter Group, Briney Breezes, and broker James Arena are in our top story from MHLivingNews, found further below.
Mainstream U.S. Housing Market Snapshot in Tweets
Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, April 20, 2023. “After declining for 5 consecutive weeks, mortgage rates rose this week…to 6.39% from 6.27%.” https://t.co/7AAfdTywjG pic.twitter.com/CgQeIpJq5b
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
First-time buyers were responsible for 28% of sales in March; Individual investors purchased 17% of homes; All-cash sales accounted for 27% of transactions; Distressed sales represented 1% of sales; Properties typically remained on the market for 29 days. #NAREHS pic.twitter.com/hleQGuggOV
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
Existing-home sales retreated 2.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million. Sales declined 22.0% from one year ago. https://t.co/kqr8YqDFYl #NAREHS
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
Year-over-year, sales waned 22.0% (down from 5.69 million in March 2022). #NAREHS pic.twitter.com/VAR1ReaLcB
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
Total housing inventory registered at the end of March was 980,000 units, up 1.0% from February and 5.4% from one year ago (930,000). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from February but up from 2.0 months in March 2022. #NAREHS
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $375,700, a decline of 0.9% from March 2022 ($379,300). Price climbed slightly in three regions but dropped in the West. #NAREHS pic.twitter.com/kwHV57B9tg
— NAR Research (@NAR_Research) April 20, 2023
Latest from NAHB Chief Economist @dietz_econ: Data continues to show easing #inflation. Signs suggest the Fed is near the end of its tightening cycle, which points the single-family housing sector toward a rebound this year and an increase in 2024. More: https://t.co/wCFkIewEQV
— NAHB 🏠 (@NAHBhome) April 20, 2023
Over the first two months of 2023, 112,131 single-family home building permits were issued nationwide, 34.3% below the same period in 2022. Every state saw a decline in single-family permits. Multifamily permits were up 8.4% nationally. https://t.co/pThtQ8FP6h #realestate
— NAHB 🏠 (@NAHBhome) April 19, 2023
HOUSING STARTS: Total housing starts grew in March to an annual rate of 1.42 million, 17.2% lower than the same time last year. Single-family home starts grew 2.7% to an annual 861,000 pace. Total housing permits dropped 8.8% from February. #realestate #economy #homebuilding pic.twitter.com/nyOB7kgVuM
— NAHB 🏠 (@NAHBhome) April 18, 2023
Additionally, Market Insider reports that U.S. foreclosure filings are up 22 percent, and repossessions are at the highest level in 3 years. They also noted the following.
- Foreclosure activity has increased for 23 consecutive months after a federal moratorium was lifted.
MSN and Redfin reported the following.
- Last month, median U.S. home prices dropped – led by pandemic boomtowns and pricey Bay Area markets – by 3.3% to $400,528, according to real estate brokerage Redfin.
Fox News said that Redfin information with this headline.
- Home prices see biggest annual drop in over a decade: Report
At the start of the 21st century, there were numbers of manufactured home focused publications. That is no longer true. One emailed quarterly, a periodical, and some bloggers make up the bulk of what passes for superficially independent manufactured housing industry insights. A closer look at those reveals that each of those have apparent ties to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI). MHI has once more been revealed in a report below to have inaccurate information that they are pushing to the industry under the claim of being ‘news.’
By contrast, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) is also a news and information source, as that Washington, D.C. based trade group strives to inform the industry about information downplayed, missed, or apparently mistakenly represented by MHI. MHARR related content is also found in the weekly recap.
A planned report for the days ahead indicates that the number of affordable housing units needed in the U.S. is well over 7 million. The manufactured home industry is the apparently most proven form of affordable permanent housing in modern U.S. history. Nevertheless, the industry is underperforming.
Given the wide array of positive facts about modern manufactured homes, many of which are found in the reports linked below, it is a stunning metaphorical indictment of MHI leadership, given that they claim to represent “all segments” of manufactured housing. The questions and implications are examined in some of the reports found in the review of the linked headlines that follow.
Don’t miss today’s postscript.
With no further adieu, here are the headlines for the week that was from 4.16 to 4.23.2023.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
What’s New and Recent from Washington, D.C. based MHARR
What’s Recent on the Masthead
The latest on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 4.22.2023
Friday 4.21.2023
Thursday 4.20.2023
Wednesday 4.19.2023
Tuesday 4.18.2023
Monday 4.17.2023
Sunday 4.16.2023
Postscript
Business in the U.S. is obviously impacted by public policy and an array of laws at the local, state, and federal levels. An evidence-based case can be made that no other publication in modern manufactured housing history has covered the array of factors that impact contemporary HUD Code manufactured housing. The reports for the week above illustrate the accuracy of that claim. Check any other industry trade publication or blogger and then look again at this one. There is simply no comparison. Then, look at what the industry’s largest national trade association puts out as ‘news,’ and note that the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) routinely have been documented as not posting their own emailed news on their own website. Why hide ‘news’ when other trade groups gladly post it, produce press releases, or share their items via social media, as NAHB, NAR, or MHARR do?
Some corporate board members and MHI association staff and attorneys were given the opportunity to respond to recent or prior allegations and reports about their performance. Once more, they declined.
MHI is apparently unwilling or unable to defend their dismal 21st century track record. That impacts ‘all segments’ of the industry as well as millions of people seeking affordable homeownership. To learn more, see the reports linked above and that follow. Sign up for our industry leading 2x weekly emailed news update at the link below. Then, stay tuned for the largest and most read trade publication serving the manufactured home industry. ###
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.’
