Modern manufactured homes in a community balancing affordability and investor pressures.
United States, September 5, 2025
Manufactured housing is emerging as a lower-cost, faster-built alternative for buyers priced out of traditional homes. Improved lending channels, including USDA and government-sponsored programs, plus rising factory output, have expanded access to modern manufactured homes that often include site-built features at far lower cost per square foot. At the same time, growing investor and private-equity purchases of manufactured-home communities have led to complaints about lot-rent hikes, new fees and displacement risks for residents who don’t own the land. Policymakers and advocates are calling for stronger tenant protections, better data transparency and clearer oversight.
Manufactured housing is gaining traction as a practical, lower-cost route to homeownership amid a widening U.S. affordability crisis, even as a wave of investor-owned community purchases has raised alarms about rising lot rents, fee hikes and resident displacement. Expanded lender programs and a rebound in factory production have improved access to modern manufactured homes, but uneven protections and data gaps leave many owners vulnerable when communities change hands.
Across many parts of the country, home prices and mortgage costs have put traditional ownership out of reach for large numbers of buyers. Factory-built homes offer a cheaper alternative: the average cost per square foot for a manufactured home is about $87, roughly half the site-built average of $166. The average sale price for a manufactured home in 2024 was $123,300, while the median single-family home value stood near $367,282—a comparison that does not account for land, since the manufactured-home figure excludes lot value.
In the past year, major programs have broadened access to conventional manufactured-home loans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out a nationwide manufactured-home lending program after testing pilots across many states. Two government-sponsored enterprise programs—Fannie Mae’s MH Advantage and Freddie Mac’s CHOICEHome—also make manufactured-home loans more widely available. These programs can offer competitive interest rates and low downpayment options but include eligibility rules and construction standards.
Factory-built homes must meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development construction and safety standards to qualify. New HUD rule updates were announced last fall and the effective date was pushed from March 2025 to this fall so manufacturers and stakeholders have more time to comply. Manufactured-home lending requires specialized paperwork and appraisal practices, notably the 1004C appraisal form, and lenders sometimes need verification from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety if HUD tags or data plates are missing.
Production fell sharply at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but rebounded rapidly. Factory shipments reached an annualized peak of roughly 122,000 units in March 2022—more than double early-2010s rates. Higher inflation and mortgage rates then dampened demand and shipments fell in 2023, but units shipped climbed back to about 103,300 in 2024 and the annualized rate reached around 106,000 by May 2025. Manufactured homes now account for about one in every 10 new homes built each year, and more than 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes.
The South remains the strongest region for factory-built housing. Texas led 2024 shipments with 18,343 units, followed by Florida and North Carolina, and several states saw manufactured homes represent large shares of new single-family housing—Mississippi at 34.3%, Kentucky 31.6%, Louisiana 30.4% and West Virginia 25.8%.
Modern manufactured homes increasingly resemble site-built houses, with features such as front porches, pitched roofs, garages and open floor plans, and they are often more energy efficient. Factory construction reduces certain costs through mass production, controlled building conditions and lower labor expenses. Many manufactured homes are paired with specialty loans like one-time-close construction or renovation mortgages.
Still, supply is constrained by zoning rules and lingering stigma. Nearly half of owners place their homes on property they own, while roughly 40% live on leased land inside manufactured-housing communities (MHCs), where ongoing monthly lot rent and fees are common. Longtime residents often pay lower costs and turnover can be low, but vulnerability rises when inhabitants do not own the land under their homes.
A substantial shift toward institutional ownership of manufactured-housing communities accelerated in the 2010s and early 2020s. Institutional buyers accounted for a growing share of park purchases, and estimates show hundreds of thousands of lots changed hands in recent years. Large investors have been drawn by steady returns, low overhead and relatively loose enforcement in many places. Ownership concentration includes well-known corporate and private-equity deals and longstanding corporate ties to the industry.
Residents and advocates report that when small, family-run parks are sold to larger out-of-state investors, rapid lot-rent increases, new fees, rule changes and lease nonrenewals can follow. In several reported cases, rent increases and other actions after a sale triggered legal complaints, administrative rulings and coordinated resident organizing. Tenant Opportunity to Purchase laws exist in some states and give residents the first right to try to buy their parks, but these laws often do not require owners to accept a resident offer over a higher outside bid.
Protections for manufactured-home residents vary widely by state. Federal actions have added some notice and disclosure requirements tied to certain financing, yet those rules generally apply only when owners use government-backed loans and to transactions closed after the rules took effect. Advocates say stronger tenant protections would require financing conditions that limit rent increases or otherwise bind purchasers. Researchers also note there is no single, accurate national database tracking park transactions or resident evictions, complicating oversight and policy responses.
For prospective buyers, improved lending options and lower per-square-foot costs make manufactured homes a viable path to ownership—especially in markets where site-built starts remain low. For residents in land-lease communities, the combination of ownership change, weak state protections and the practical difficulty of moving many homes can create a high risk of displacement or unaffordable rent growth. Policymakers, lenders, residents and community groups continue to weigh how to expand access to factory-built housing while protecting the stability of existing owners.
A manufactured home is a factory-built dwelling constructed under federal HUD standards, transported to a site and installed there. Modern models often include features found in site-built houses but generally cost less per square foot.
Average cost per square foot for manufactured homes is about $87, roughly half the site-built average of $166. Average sale price for a manufactured home in 2024 was about $123,300, excluding land.
Yes. USDA expanded a nationwide manufactured-home lending program recently, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer programs that make conventional manufactured-home loans more broadly available. These programs have eligibility rules and documentation requirements such as the 1004C appraisal form.
Many homes sit on leased land, which can lead to vulnerability if the park is sold. New owners may raise lot rents or change rules. In some states, legal protections are limited and removal or lease nonrenewal can be permitted without cause.
Yes. Institutional and private-equity buyers have increased their share of park purchases. Residents report rent hikes and fee increases after sales in some communities, and research and reporting have documented legal disputes and organized resident responses.
Protections vary. Some states have Tenant Opportunity to Purchase laws that give residents a chance to buy their park, and federal guidance tied to certain loans requires notice before rent increases, but many residents remain outside those protections.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cost per square foot | $87 for manufactured homes vs $166 for site-built homes |
| Average 2024 sale price | $123,300 (manufactured home, excludes land) |
| Production trend | Peak annualized shipments ≈ 122,000 (Mar 2022); 2024 shipments ≈ 103,300; May 2025 annualized ≈ 106,000 |
| Lending programs | USDA nationwide program; Fannie Mae MH Advantage; Freddie Mac CHOICEHome; specialized appraisal and HUD-code requirements |
| Resident risks | Lot-rent increases, fee hikes, lease nonrenewals, limited state protections, difficulty moving units |
| Investor activity | Institutional purchases rose in the 2010s–2020s; large-scale buyers and PE firms increased market share |
| Data gaps | No single, definitive national database of community transactions or resident displacement; state reporting varies |
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