Federal agencies are reviewing financing and regulations in hopes of giving manufactured homes a boost America?s affordable housing crisis is driven in large part by the simple fact that there aren?t enough homes in America right now to satisfy demand. High construction costs and labor shortages mean builders can?t build fast enough to keep up with household formation, and Americans who already own homes are reluctant to sell an asset that is appreciating rapidly.
This has pushed home prices to or beyond their pre-financial collapse peaks, leaving prospective homebuyers without an affordable option. While there?s no easy fix, signals within the federal government suggest one solution is getting increased attention?manufactured housing.
Previously referred to as mobile homes, manufactured houses are built in a factory, transported to a site on a flatbed truck, and installed on-site. Not to be confused with prefab homes, which have parts made in a factory but are mostly constructed on-site, manufactured homes cost as little as $45,000, a mere fraction of the median price for a new single-family site-built home of $323,000. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage facilitators, announced plans in January to make the manufactured housing market more active by purchasing more manufactured housing loans over the next three years.
A few weeks later, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it was reviewing regulations around manuf...