Financing. Affordable housing demand. Regulations. Tiny Houses. Consolidation (wanted and otherwise). RV Industry seeking definition clarifications on “Manufactured Housing.” Opportunities mixed with Challenges.
These are just some of the fluid dynamics facing manufactured housing today.
Any birth is ‘messy,’ and a breach birth needing a c-section perhaps more so. This comes to mind as industry pros and observers sound off publicly and privately about the industry’s painfully slow-but-steady roughly 5 year uptick.
The pace of new home sales growth can and MUST be accelerated, so say certain pros to the Masthead, or else we’ll see more businesses die a painful and potentially avoidable death.
ELS’ Sam Zell spoke of the confidence they have in MH and MHCs, and we have had similar confidence in MH too which began before our launch of MHProNews, or more recently, MHLivingNews.com. Duh, of course! We knew there was a struggle ahead, we launched to be part of the solution.
But the times have been and are messy.
There are those who say that the industry is being held back as much by the industry itself than by outside forces. They’d say, we’ve met the enemy and he is us.
Others have a list of reasons why MH has progressed, but why it isn’t doing better. Sorry, some of those reads like CYA excuses.
Look at Champion, which is growing, or Adventure Homes – growing, or Deer Valley, which attracted new capital.
Creativity? It’s not coming, it’s here!
1) We hope to have a column for you soon from a forward thinking industry pro that anticipated a mainstream story out today about using vacant parking lots for manufactured or modular mini-homes, to address municipal affordable housing demand.
2) Outdated MHCs (aka, older “mobile home parks”) are getting attention they haven’t had in years; not from developers looking to place big box stores or multi-family housing (that’s still happening too), but rather from the encouraging sign of investors buying them to fix them up and turn them into more desirable properties.
Opportunities abound, but closures and consolidations of various kinds are coming. We hear whispers about programs and firms that could vanish or be absorbed, even as the industry is regaining market share and total sales, with more growth to come.
The point is there is a high cost to low volume sales. We have the ability to rapidly – and sustainably – double or more our new home sales, but it will require changes of approach. It’s about time more firms start seriously investing in growth!
Programing note
Starting last Thursday, we began testing a new style on the Daily Business News, which has long been popular. Readership has already taken a noticeable jump! Please take a look and let us know your thoughts, thank you.
The new birth – rebirth – of manufactured housing is coming. Together, we advance. ##
