“…Check out Michigan numbers. They are declining but the retail market is strong. Less rental purchases.”
The above was part of a series of off-the-record messages from a HUD Code home production center that ships into the Midwestern states. There were several topics, but this one – which came from a Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) member company – was focused on concerns that manufactured housing was still hitting new home shipment headwinds.
Further, the new home shipments don’t closely reflect new home sales, as would have been true 10, 20, or 30 years ago.
In another message from a different source was a related news tip from a Daily Business News reader.
It appears to be a scan or photos of two charts, which MHProNews has added its logo and fair use notice to, after-the-fact. The spot-checked data appears to be accurate.
How can it be that during a growing affordable housing crisis, that manufactured home shipments are declining anywhere in the U.S.?
But as the Daily Business News has exclusively reported on prior occasions, rises in new home shipments to states such as Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Alabama are masking the decline, modest growth or essentially flat sales in some 1½ dozen other states, per the last review, shown in the linked article below.
While Manufactured Housing Overall Rises, Some Slip Sliding Away
The “Troubling Trend” report, which is linked below and can be read later for greater depth of understanding on the topic, spotlights how several industry professionals in operations of all sizes are telling MHProNews that rental shipments into communities are another ‘mask’ for essentially flat manufactured home sales.
Manufactured Home Communities, Retailers, Developers Face Disruptive, Troubling Trend
While shipments have been steadily rising for years, producers from among MHI and MHARR member companies have told MHProNews that they feel concerns about what could happen in 3 to 5 years, if the underlying cause for these trends aren’t addressed.
It is worth noting that Ohio has risen significantly. This is true, even though that state went through a bruising media battle with their governor and politicos that wrenched away their state commission that oversaw manufactured housing installations.
That state association took pro-active steps to address the mainstream media, and this trade media, in disputing the claims. While they didn’t succeed in their quest, all the apparently negative publicity did not negatively impact their shipments. Why? Could it be that the routine push-back by the Ohio state association helped attract new customers that may not have come otherwise? “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)
(Third party images, content are provided under fair use guidelines.)
Related Reports:
Manufactured Home Shipments, State by State Breakdown, May 2018 Official HUD Data
“Why Advocates Need to Rethink Manufactured Home Quality,” Harvard, GSE, Genz, “High Satisfaction”
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