Broad impact on manufactured home production could mean less affordable housing options
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Grant Beck, Marketing and Communications Manager
Phone: (202) 851-7550
Email: g.beck@nextstepus.org
LOUISVILLE, KY – April 24, 2020 – Home manufacturers across the country are experiencing restrictions on their operations that could potentially impact production and home sales. In a recent survey, 65 percent of manufacturer respondents indicated that their operations are somehow restricted due to COVID-19, and 91 percent of those manufacturers expect to build fewer homes as result of ongoing impact from the pandemic.
“We continue to monitor the ongoing impact on our partners in the manufactured housing industry as a result of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stacey Epperson, president and founder of Next Step Network. “As we look to the long-term impact that COVID-19 poses to housing – and continuing recovery efforts – it is critical for state governments and federal policymakers to understand the importance of manufactured housing as an affordable homeownership option in our communities”
Responding manufacturing facilities representing eight states reported on key areas of business, including: operations, labor, and floor production and sales. Of responding manufacturing locations that indicated that they are operating under restrictions, 100 percent specified that fewer team members have been reporting for daily operations, reporting an average 22 percent reduction in their workforce for daily operations. Seventy-seven percent indicated that they could see up to a 30 percent reduction in overall sales.
Download the summary report on Next Step’s website here.
Next Step released a similar summary report on manufactured housing retailers on April 17, which can be accessed here: https://nextstepus.org/retailers-expect-decrease-in-sales-covid-19/.
For decades, manufactured housing has served as the largest source of unsubsidized housing for very-low, low- and middle-income Americans, and accounts for nearly 100,000 new homes annually. Based on 2016 data, the median household income among manufactured homeowners was $43,900, about half the median household income compared to site-built homeowners.
***
About Next Step® Network, Inc.
Next Step® Network, Inc. is a national, nonprofit housing intermediary that works to promote expanded use of factory-built housing as a viable solution to address housing affordability. Our organization mobilizes a national network of mission-driven nonprofits, leaders in the manufactured housing industry and lending institutions serving home buyers and homeowners in their communities. Next Step’s system – Manufactured Housing Done Right® – connects responsible financing, comprehensive homebuyer education and delivery of high-quality, ENERGY STAR® manufactured homes at scale, creating a model that brings more value to the homeowners and communities. Learn more at www.nextstepus.org.