According to a recent report by left-leaning NBC News, based largely on data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the following 5 bullets and charts ‘sums up’ the U.S. housing market. NBC described the housing market as being in a “deep slump.” Indicators of that slump? Falling home sales. “The annual rate of home sales in October was down almost 15% compared to the same period in 2022, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.” “High borrowing costs, higher home prices.” “One of the main reasons the real estate market has slowed down is the high prices homes are going for. Mortgages are also far more expensive than they were just two years ago,” said NBC on 11.22.2023. “Home prices soared in the pandemic era. Data from NAR shows the median home price in 2019 was almost half of what it is today.” In a separate remark, the NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun, Ph.D., recently said that equity has increased for the typical homeowner by some $100,000 in the past 3 years alone. “Fewer homes on the market” was the next category NBC’s report pointed out. “Low inventory is another side of the equation, and right now there are fewer homes available for purchase. Data from Realtor.com shows that active listings are about half of where they were in 2019.” In a bit of an overlap are the following two points. “Fixed-rate mortgage interest rates,” per their report, “It’s been more than 20 years since 30-year mortgage interest rates were as high as they’ve been this month.” And: “Up, up and away” “The Northeast saw the largest increase in median home prices from October 2022 to October 2023, rising 7.5%.”
Those 5 charts, per NBC and the sources cited, are as follows.
What NBC Didn’t Say…
NBC didn’t mention HUD Code manufactured housing in their report.
Note 2: more details on the conventional housing market plus the
most recent data for the manufactured home market in the U.S. are found on MHLivingNews plus other
articles among the headline recaps below.
Nor did NBC’s report directly mention what has occurred during the years since 2019 which shifted the housing market down so significantly, as they reported.
Like it or not, there has obviously been a change in the occupant of the White House. And that dramatic shift in inflation was a direct result of Democratic policies that Joe Biden and then House Majority Whip James Clyburn (SC-D) helped champion. Who said? Congressman Clyburn himself and the facts summarized by left-leaning PolitiFact.
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below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.
Trouble for Costlier Conventional Housing Could be Good News for Manufactured Housing, But…
Several of these data points from the conventional housing sector could potentially be useful to the manufactured housing industry in order to grow the manufactured home market share. In fact, prior Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) vice chairman – who is now the current MHI chair, William “Bill” Boor said that the manufactured housing industry had an opportunity to ‘catch up’ to conventional housing.
So, given Boor’s high-profile position in the manufactured housing industry and at MHI, what went wrong with his projection? The most recent MHI email sent out pre-Thanksgiving is silent on the topic (note that MHProNews plans a review of that MHI email in a report planned for the days ahead. But earlier this year, analyst Greg Palm asked Boor about the industry’s troublingly poor performance.
While acknowledging the industry’s woes in remarks to Congress, Boor in remarks since then to investors has not quite sung the same tune.
Boor was correct in saying on July 14, 2023 that “HUD must strengthen preemption enforcement…and provide…transparent guidelines for compliance. Further HUD must respond promptly and definitively whenever localities violate” federal “preemption.”
But when the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) offered to team up with an MHI state affiliate to get enhanced preemption legal action launched during the Trump Administration, MHARR asserts that no association stepped forward.
That no doubt contributed to ex-MHI vice president and MHARR founding president, CEO and current senior advisor Danny Ghorbani’s remarks to MHProNews. Ghorbani said that it now falls on MHI to take up the legal battle. See that in detail and context linked below.
Lost Sales, Lost Opportunities, Lost Higher Pay, Lost Higher Profits
While the self-serving drive by some at MHI for ever-greater industry consolidation appears to be the driving force behind their behaviors, an evidence-based case can be made that those trends and behaviors are costing the manufactured home industry billions annually. Those billions could translate into more pay for employees, more commissions for sellers, and more profits for retailers, producers and more revenues for those who service and supply them.
Don’t miss today’s postscript. And the Thanksgiving Day post below is useful 365 days a year for manufactured housing industry employees and others.
With that focused introduction, the following are the headlines for the week that was from 11.19 to 11.26.2023.
What’s New on MHLivingNews
What’s New from Washington, D.C. from MHARR
What’s New and Recent on the Masthead
What’s New on the Daily Business News on MHProNews
Saturday 11.25.2023
Friday 11.24.2023
Thursday 11.23.2023
Wednesday 11.22.2023
Tuesday 11.21.2023
Monday 11.20.2023
Sunday 11.19.2023
Postscript
Tens of millions drift through life with little or no understanding of what is happening behind the curtains in either their profession or in their country. While their views are quite different in politics and economics, Warren Buffett (see Saturday report, above) and Donald Trump share a common notion that boils down to the idea of the importance of understanding.
Buffett has said for years that he spends 5, 6 or more hours daily just reading. Reading can lead to understanding.
“In business – every business – the bottom line is understanding the process. If you don’t understand the process, you’ll never reap the rewards of the process.” So said Donald Trump, per AZ Quotes and Bing AI.
This question was put to Bing AI about Trump quotes regarding the “rigged system.”
> “What has Donald Trump said about the rigged system in terms of business and the economy?”
“It’s not just the political system that’s rigged, it’s the whole economy. The middle class can’t get ahead because the system is controlled by big donors, big businesses, and big bureaucrats who all want to keep wages down while enriching themselves.” 1
Trump has also promised to overhaul the system by getting tough on trade, restricting immigration, repealing Obamacare, scaling back regulations, and passing massive tax reform to lower taxes for individuals and corporations 1. However, economists and business leaders across the political spectrum have criticized Trump for some of these ideas, especially his plans to put walls – literally and figuratively – up on trade and immigration 12.
I hope this helps!
Learn more:
Bing AI is owned by Microsoft, which has William “Bill” Gates III as a founder. Gates is an ally of Warren Buffett, as the Saturday report above attests. In MHProNews over 6 months of tests using Bing AI, its bias on several issues is evident. That said, it is true that Trump was criticized by members of his own party, as well as Democrats and others. But many in hindsight realize that Trump was correct on trade, correct on building walls and controlling illegal and legal immigration, and that the economy was better for the working class and middle class during his time in office. Of course, those who dominate big tech, big business and big media don’t like Trump for saying things like the quotation above, which is repeated for ease of quick reading below.
> “It’s not just the political system that’s rigged, it’s the whole economy. The middle class can’t get ahead because the system is controlled by big donors, big businesses, and big bureaucrats who all want to keep wages down while enriching themselves.” 1
It isn’t just Trump who has said so, Democrats have said similarly.
Every report for the week in review is written and posted with a single-minded purpose of accurately reporting on often troubling issues that need to be addressed in order for everyday Americans to get the kind of improved living that a healthier economic and political system should yield.
Even most Democrats don’t want Joe Biden to run again, per recent polling. It would not be a surprise if sometime before the Democratic convention, if Biden bows out for whatever reason and someone else is parachuted into the Democratic ‘nominee’ for president. Not only is the housing market in worse shape than it was 4 years ago, so too are the standards of living for most Americans. Is it any surprise that despite all the double-barreled name-calling and ‘indictments’ of Trump, that he has surged in the polls?
A series of manufactured housing specific reports are just ahead. So too are more reports that will pull back the curtain on a rigged system, with an eye on how people can learn to better navigate the barriers and traps. So, stay tuned to the largest, most read, and – thank you! – increasingly popular leader in manufactured housing trade media, MHProNews, where “Industry News, Tips, and Views Pros Can Use” © means that “We Provide, You Decide.” ©
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.’
