UMH CEO Sam Landy Holds Forth
In a conversation SeekingAlpha writer Brad Thomas has with Sam Landy, CEO and President of UMH Properties, Landy describes the beginnings of UMH in 1969 and how the REIT (real estate investment trust) grew profitably through the years until the recent recession. Landy says the company thought manufactured housing was recession proof. He says although vacancy slid from 90% occupancy down to 77% occupancy in recent years as robo-signing and other frailities in the housing market led to people buying homes they could not afford, the company stayed liquid by investing in other REITs “through the terrible years of 2008 and 2009.” He says you buy when other people are selling, and you do not buy as much when others are buying. MHProNews.com has learned UMH owns a portfolio of over 40 MHCs comprised of 9,000 home sites in New York, Tennessee, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Click here for the full interview.
(Photo credit: UMH Properties)
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From South Dakota’s KOTARadio comes news that the Rapid City, South Dakota City Council is reluctant to permit modular homes to be sited in MHCs. Council members expressed concern that modular homes might spring up in other neighborhoods. Noting that this is an opportunity to replace what is now in the community with a superior product, Attorney Matt Konenkamp assured council members the ordinance only allows modular homes to be sited in the MHCs. MHProNews.com has learned the council will discuss the measure again on Monday, May 21.
MarketWatch informs us that MH component supplier Universal Forest Products, Inc. (UFPI) has acquired through a subsidiary Haleyville, Alabama-based MSR Forest Products, LLC, a provider of roof trusses and cut-to-order lumber for the manufactured housing industry. UFPI has an existing plant in Haleyville. With annual sales of $10 million, MSR also has a facility in Waycross, Georgia that is included in the acquisition. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, UFPI is a holding company that provides resources for subsidiaries that produce and distribute a variety of wood and wood-look products for the DYI market, engineered components for commercial and residential construction, and structural lumber for manufactured housing. MHProNews.com has learned the purchase price was not disclosed.
TheTimesNews tells MHProNews.com from Burlington, NC Jeff Mitchell has come to the Burlington City Council twice to have property rezoned from residential to manufactured housing, and has succeeded both times. In 2010 the council voted 3-2 to honor the request. On the current issue, city staff recommended the change should not be made, but the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8-1 in favor of rezoning. Once again the council voted 3-2 to approve Mitchell’s request.
Following HUD’s suspension of the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) Administering Organization (AO) services by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) because of HUD’s failure to pay the NFPA, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) sent a letter to Carol Galante, HUD Assistant Secretary-Federal Housing Commissioner. In reminding Ms. Galante of their meeting last fall in which the importance of the MHCC as part of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 was stressed for proper operation of the MH program, MHARR President Danny Ghorbani reiterates HUD’s disregarding the role of the MHCC as intended by Congress. He says, “…the indefinite suspension of all MHCC activities threatens to return the program to the type of closed door, unaccountable and non-transparent regulatory practices that Congress sought to end through the reforms of the 2000 law.”
Writing in Vancouver, Canada’s North Shore News, Kevin Vallely states homes of the future will be more economically and environmentally sound. Noting the decline of the McMansions in favor of quality over quantity, he says homes will be smaller as energy-efficient, cost effective technologies and building practices incorporating greener alternatives become the norm. He describes factory-built homes as “prefab-ulous” for their cutting-edge, bold, contemporary styles, and says we will utilize screens, sliding doors, and moveable partitions to achieve more flexible floor plans. Advances in technology are allowing more people to work from home; and as we continue to live longer and age in place, our homes will need to become more accessible to wheelchairs and other assistive devices. In addition, MHProNews.com has learned houses will be more resistive to earthquakes, storms, hurricanes, and other natural occurrences.
CNNMoney reports the increase in U.S. housing starts and growth in industrial production was overshadowed by continuing uncertainty regarding the political and financial situation in Greece, reducing gains made earlier in the day as all three U.S. stock indexes fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -33.45 points, -0.26 percent, to close at 12,595.55. The Nasdaq dropped -0.68 percent to 2,874.04, while the S&P closed down -0.44 percent, to 1,324.80. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite fell -1.89 percent to close at 1042.90. Housing stocks we track closed mixed, but Skyline Corp. gained +2.50 percent, +0.12, to close at 4.92. Louisiana Pacific Corp., after gaining 2.76 percent yesterday, fell the most of tracked stocks today, declining -4.24 percent, -0.41, to end the trading day at 9.27. Affiliated Managers Group 104.84 +0.75 (+0.72%). Cavco Industries 46.61 -1.61 (-3.34%). Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, as well as MH home-building, lending and other housing suppliers parent company Berkshire Hathaway 121,800 +375.00 (+0.31%). Champion, Liberty Homes, Deer Valley and Palm Harbor all remained unchanged. Drew Industries 26.50 -0.34 (-1.27%). Equity Lifestyle Properties 67.10 -1.58 (-2.30%). Nobility Homes remained unchanged at 6.85. 
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says U.S. Census figures and HUD statistics report April registered a 2.3 percent gain in housing starts, marking a 717,000 seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Single-family home construction was up 2.3 percent while multi-family gained 3.2 percentage. MHProNews.com has learned from various sources while sales of single-family homes have flip-flopped, the demand for rentals has risen, resulting in increased multi-family construction and a rise in rental costs. Regionally, the Midwest gained 6.7 percent, and the South was up 11.6 percent. The Northeast fell 20.7 percent, and the West declined 8.1 percent. While noting ongoing tight credit, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe says, “While still less than half the pace of what we would expect in a fully healthy market, the rate of housing production in April was very solid for this point of the recovery.”
Yahoo!Finance says MH builder Nobility Homes has won approval from NASDAQ to continue being listed on the exchange through Sept. 14, 2012. Nobility did not file 10-Q reports for the periods ending Aug. 4, 2011 and Feb. 4, 2012, and for Form 10-K for the year ending Nov. 5, 2011 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Nobility expects to regain compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rules by the Sept. deadline. MHProNews.com has learned the company, based in Florida, has built over 50,000 homes.
A collaboration of nonprofits and an anonymous land donor are determined to maintain affordable housing on Maine’s Islesboro Island. BangorDailyNews informs us building new homes or renovating older ones on the island can prove costly in terms of transportation of materials. Islesboro Affordable Property (IAP) and Genesis Fund contracted with Pray’s Homes of Belfast to build two modular homes that were then hauled by barge to Islesboro. Rick Rogers, executive director of IAP says the goal is to develop properties that local people can afford, noting that many of the homes are summer getaways for wealthy out-of-staters. MHProNews.com has learned current occupants of several of the affordable units include school employees, the captain of the island water taxi, and ferry workers. Says Rogers, himself a retiree and transplant, “We try to support those who are integral to running the island. We’re trying to maintain a certain socioeconomic segment.”
