MHMSM.com presents Factory Built Housing Industry News at Noon with Erin Patla.
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Now we begin with these stories:
MHI REPORTS that USDA Housing Administrator Tammye Trevino announced on August 23, that implementation of the new funding fees for the Section 502 Single Family Loan Guarantee Program is expected by mid-September. Legislation was recently signed into law giving USDA the authority to increase the up-front fee to up to 3.5 percent of the principal obligation and to charge a new annual fee of up to .5 percent of the outstanding principal balance. USDA’s office of Rural Development expects to complete an interim enhancement to its electronic systems by mid-September to accommodate the increase. When this interim enhancement is complete, Rural Development will process all Conditional Commitments issued after May 26, 2010, that had the proviso “subject to the availability of funds.” These Conditional Commitments will be processed in the date order by which they were received. As soon as the program is implemented, Rural Development will resume issuing standard commitments without the special “subject to” condition.
Manufactured Housing in the News…
THE BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL is the latest to run a story on the increase in manufactured home sales, particularly with an increase in purchases of Clayton Homes. According to the paper, sales of its manufactured and modular homes around the Birmingham area are up more than 35 percent over last year. Corporate wide, sales are 22 percent better than the first half of 2009.
A GENESEO NEIGHBORHOOD in Illinois has recovered from a surprise flash flood earlier this year and came together this weekend to celebrating recovery, according to WQAD.com. Mud and water from a nearby creek covered homes in the Maple City trailer park back in May. Community donations have helped the recovery and Sunday residents celebrated with a cookout.
WCAX.COM REPORTS that thirty-four families at the Shircliff Mobile Home Park in Schuyler Falls, New York will have to find new homes because of ongoing sewage problems. Health officials say the septic system for the park needs to be completely replaced because raw sewage often ends up exposed on the ground after storms.
“Up next, Modular Housing in the News”
But first, this podcast of News at Noon is sponsored in part by:
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Now, back to our stories.
Modular Housing in the News…
IN A STORY that News at Noon has been following since first reporting construction on July 21 for imminent delivery, the Gulfport Sun Herald reports that the first hurricane-resistant modular homes have recently been installed in the Turtle Creek subdivision in Gulfport. Sections for a two-bedroom model unit and a three-bedroom model unit were trucked in from builder Royal Concrete Concepts in Okeechobee [oh-kih-CHO-bee], Florida, and were completely assembled the following day. The homes are made of solid concrete and are able to withstand 200-miles-per-hour winds. The subdivision will have lots for 248 homes and a grand opening is set for September 18.
THE WEB SITE ENVIRO.BLR.com recently took note of a Federal Register item on HUD’s Formaldehyde Proposal. As part of a package of proposed amendments to the federal manufactured home construction and safety standards, the Department of Housing and Urban Development {HUD) is seeking to revise the maximum emissions levels for formaldehyde in particleboard and medium density fiberboard. Since 1985, HUD has restricted plywood and particleboard in the construction of prefabricated and mobile homes to products that conform to specified formaldehyde emissions limits. In the past, some of these homes had elevated levels of formaldehyde because of the large amount of high-emitting pressed wood products used in their construction and their relatively small interior space.
HUD’s proposals would lower the formaldehyde maximum emissions levels for particleboard materials used in flooring applications from 0.3 parts per million to 0.2 parts per million; from other uses of particleboard materials to 0.3 parts per million; and by adding new formaldehyde emissions controls for MDF materials of 0.3 parts per million. The proposed amendments would require no changes in existing technology for either product to achieve the proposed reduced formaldehyde levels, according to HUD.
HUD’s proposed changes to its manufactured home construction and safety standards were published in the July 13, 2010, Federal Register.
ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe showed off a high-tech plant recently where manufactured homes are being built for the reservation in South Dakota. The 33,600-square-foot facility, owned by the tribe’s Ojinjintka [O-jin-JINT-ka] Housing Development Corporation, has the capacity to build as many as 48 homes for low-income families each year and employs tribal members. The plant will employee 18 people by September, and could increase soon to 26. The tribe is currently building seven homes with $1.1 million from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Housing Improvement Program and another five houses under a $1 million contract provided by the federal Native American and Self-Determination Act.
In Market News…
FED CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE said “we’ll do all we can” to protect economic recovery; and markets moved up 164 points, crossing the 10,000 mark once again. The comments came at the Kansas City Fed’s annual monetary symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and follow a series of negative economic reports. The general market didn’t keep the manufactured housing composite vale from sliding, however. It closed down half of one percent. Cavco was down more than 3 percent, but Palm Harbor Homes, Skyline Corp and Barnes Group all closed higher.
A NEW MONTH is on the horizon and some events that could significantly impact markets in the coming month include the release of the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for June and the second quarter, August 31; information from the Commerce Department on construction spending for July, September 1; a release of industrial production statistics from the Federal Reserve, September 15; the National Association of Home Builders housing market index for September, arriving on the 20th; housing starts from the Commerce Department, September 21; existing home sales for August from the National Association of Realtors, September 23rd, and the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for July, on September 28th.
“On behalf of Production and IT Manager Bob Stovall, Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Associate Editor Catherine Frenzel, INdustry in Focus reporter Eric Miller, and the entire MHMSM.com writing and support team, this is Erin Patla. G’day!”