Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/406201
REGULATIONS. "All manufactured homes are constructed in accordance with the federal (nationally preemptive) manufactured home construction and safety standards, in effect since June 15, 1976. This (performance based) build- ing code, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Develop- ment ('HUD'), is known as the HUD-Code, regulates home design and construction, strength and durability, fire resistance, and energy efficiency. In the early 1990s, this building code was revised to enhance energy efficiency and ventilation standards, and to improve the wind resistance of manufactured homes in areas prone to hurricane-force winds. The Manufactured Housing Improve- ment Act of 2000 establishes a more timely and systematic approach to code up- dates and enhancements." *2 Proof of home ownership continues to be via motor vehicle title, except in the state of New Hampshire, where deeds are recorded for homes sited in LLLCommunities. And federal home installation guidelines are not uniformly enforced state to state. DESIGNS & SIZES have 'improved' & 'varied' throughout seven plus decades, e.g. • 1950s = 100% 'singlewide' mobile homes • 1970s = 80/20% 'singlewides'/ 'doublewides' • 1990s = 20/80% 'singlesection'/ 'multisection' homes • During year 2011, singlesection and multisection new home shipment equi- librium was experienced, on a national basis, and generally continues to this day. There're also these notable trends: 'Big Box = Big Bucks' Developer Se- ries Homes were popular during the late 1990s, as Land & Home packages, designed to compete head-to-head with site-builders. This they did, until the realty-secured housing mortgage bubble burst in 2007, a scant seven years after the manufactured housing industry's chattel mortgage bubble burst. This was followed, post-2009, by the debut of smaller Community Series Homes, or CSH Models, designed with a WOW Factor & numerous durability-enhancing features, for siting in LLLCommunities.*3 SHIPMENTS. 1964 = 191,100; 1974 = 338,393 (down from 575,940 in 1972); 1984 = 294,993; 1994 = 303,932; 2004 = 129,902; 2014 = estimated range between 60,000 & 70,000; 2024 = See Part II following. It's estimated 80+/- percent of national (manufactured housing) market share is today corralled by the 'Big 3-C' companies, being Clayton Homes, Inc., Cavco Industries, Inc., & Champion Home Builders, Inc. DISTRIBUTION. Varies among local housing markets, but given the clos- ing of many independent (street) MHRetail sales centers, even 'company stores', an increasing number of new manufactured homes (e.g. CSH Models) have been, and continue to be sold directly to, and are installed on-site in LLL- Communities. Many new HUD-Code manufactured homes, however, are also shipped to scattered building sites conveyed fee simple, as well as into subdivi- sions. RETAIL FINANCING. For decades, chattel capital was readily available from independent, third party lenders, for homes sited in (then) manufactured Past/Present State of Manufactured Housing as 'Housing' vs. 'Trailers' By George Allen GFA Management Inc. Reprinted with permission Past/Present State of Manufactured Housing as 'Housing' vs. 'Trailers' P RODUCT DESCRIPTION. A.k.a. trailers, mo- bile homes & mobiles, manufactured housing; and of late, simply 'housing', built on a towable steel frame, in accords with the HUD-Code.*1