Manufactured Homes, An Affordable Solution

For 6.6 million households, manufactured homes are a safe and more affordable homeownership choice, finds a new report from the National Association of Realtors.

The greatest concentration of such homes in the U.S. are in Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia, comprising a 15 to 25 percent share of the overall housing stock, the NAR reports. In May 2018, 98,000 manufactured or mobile homes were shipped in all 50 states, growing from 92,900 shipped in 2017. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Texas had about 5,000 or more homes. Manufactured homeowners generally spent $534 on housing costs, about half the monthly housing cost among all homeowners.

Manufactured homes are an affordable option, especially for the lower income groups. Based on 2016 latest data, the median household income among manufactured homeowners was $43,900, about half the median household income among all homeowners. The median household income of manufactured homeowners is about the same as the median income of all renters, at $42,500. This indicates that renters can transition to homeownership without significant change in housing expenses via ownership of a manufactured home, if other factors that homebuyers look for are also met.

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