George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

Blog Posting # 693. Copyright @ 10 June 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. ‘Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’, comprise the real estate component of manufactured housing!

EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, education resource & textbook supplier for land lease communities throughout North America!

To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email gfa7156@aol.com and or visit www.educatemhc.com Previous phone #s no longer connected.

Motto: ‘U Support US & WE Serve U!’ Goal: to promote HUD-Code manufactured housing and land lease communities as U.S> # 1 source of affordable, attainable housing! Be MHM certified!

INTODUCTION: Nowhere else will you find the breadth and depth of manufactured housing and land lease community information and statistics you find here! Manufactured housing shipment volume (for April 2022), stock market performance as of 3 June 2022, relaunching of Manufactured Homes Network on 13 June, and the latest news about all the happenings in Elkhart, IN., on 15, 16 & 17 August. GFA

I.

MHShipment Volume & Stock Market Report*1

Here’s a two part manufactured housing and land lease community trivia question for you;

What recurring statistical benchmark is reported in confusing fashion each month, and what statistical benchmark has been underreported (i.e. ‘not reported’) for several decades?

In the first instance, we’re talking about manufactured housing shipment volumes reported monthly by the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (‘IBTS’). The IBTS statistical benchmark is reported similarly by HUD, MHARR, and EducateMHC; MHI alone reports a spurious shipment volume – without explanation. One of our industry’s perennial peccadillos.

Here’s the official ‘skinny’. IBTS, for April 2022, recently reported 10,165 new HUD-Code homes shipped. This is ‘down’ from 11,279 in March 2022, but ‘up’ from 9,224 during April of year 2021. Year to date (‘YTD’) totals? 39,835 in 2022, compared to 35,723 during April 2021. And while this is progress; remember, the 105,772 new HUD-Code homes shipped during year 2021 accounted for only 10 percent market share among all ‘starts’ in the national housing market.

In the second instance, we’re talking about the stock market report prepared by EducateMHC.
Decades ago, before the emergence of land lease community portfolio real estate investment trusts (‘REITs’), a manufactured housing pundit in Pennsylvania would occasionally report stock prices for the very few public manufactured housing producers; but nothing has been reported during the past 25 years.

EducateMHC, on 3 June 2022, reported the stock prices of all ten public companies: five HUD-Code housing manufacturers (BRK-A, SKY, CVCO, LEGH, & NOBH) and five land lease community portfolio owners/operators (ELS, SUI, UMH, MHPC, & Flagship).*2 Skyline/Champion was the only firm to experience an increase in stock price during the past month. The Composite Stock Index (‘CSI’) continued its’ downward trend, from $740.09 in May to $703.83 in June.

Furthermore, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (‘FHFA’), the U.S. House Price Index is up 18.7 percent in year 2022 over 2021.

And throughout the U.S., the average ‘asking rent’ among multifamily rental properties is now $1,642/month. Applying the age-old 3:1 formula, this suggests an average asking price of $547/month among rental homesite rates in land lease communities. Of course this will vary from local housing market to local housing market.

I have no immediate plans to stop researching and publishing this seminal information. However, there will come a time when ‘someone’ will have to, or should, take on this timely responsibility. It’s my opinion this dual task best rests with the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), especially now that there’s a statistician on staff. They’re already halfway there, receiving IBTS shipment data each month – just start reporting it in unadulterated fashion! The stock market report is a bit trickier, i.e. ‘when best to report this information’, since stock prices vary so often and quickly?

End Note.

1. The following data is reported for ‘information sharing’ purposes only. No intended as investment advice or guidance. GFA

2. BRK-A. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., includes Clayton Homes.
SKY. Skyline Champion Corporation
CVCO. Cavco Industries, Inc.
LEGH. Legacy Housing Corporation
NOBY. Nobility Homes

ELS. Equity Lifestyle, Inc.
SUI. Sun Communities, Inc.
UMH. UMH Properties, Inc.
Flagship Communities @ TSC (Canadian)
MHPC. Manufactured Housing Properties, Inc.


II.

Relaunching of Manufactured Homes Network

You’d have to be awfully ‘in the know’ to already realize the ‘I’m HOME’ network, launched in 2005 by Prosperity Now (formerly Corporation for Enterprise Development), has found a new home at The Lincoln Institute. No change in focus however, as the network continues, according to a recent press release, to ‘promote manufactured housing as a strategy to keep the American dream of affordable homeownership alive for those who need it most.’

With that said, and given lively interest in the ‘current state of manufactured housing and its’ challenges’, plan now to participate in a webinar on this subject, at 12:00 PM on 13 June 2022. Two of four panelists speaking during this webinar are well known to manufactured housing veterans: Stacey Epperson, president & CEO of Next Step, and Paul Bradley, president of ROC USA.

How to register? Google Lincoln Institute Events, or simply Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and go from there. I have no other information.


III.

All Roads Lead to Elkhart, IN.

You likely already know of the annual RV/MH Hall of Fame Induction Banquet the evening of 15 August 2022. Registrations to date suggest an audience of more than 500. Will you be present? I certainly will. For tickets, phone (574) 29302344. And if you arrive the day before, or early on the 15th, and would like a private session with me to learn how to pen your memoirs, let me know of your interest via gfa7156@aol.com And while you’re at the RV/MH Hall of Fame, be sure to visit the new manufactured housing exhibit hall, as well as the extensive RV/MH library.

And that’s not all that’s going on at the RV/MH Hall of Fame during that time frame; specifically, 16 & 17 August. The IMHA/RVIC will be hosting its annual MH plants tour and in-community new homes marketing and sales seminars. Interested? Phone (317) 247-6258.

Know what’s ‘not going on’ on the 16th of August – so far? No word from MHARR, the online trade press newsletter, and like-minded folk who claim our industry and realty asset class (i.e. post-production sectors of the manufactured housing industry) need better national representation and advocacy. Remember now, this is the focus of the ‘Put Up or Shut UP! Blog postings you’ve been reading during the past few months. So, will such a meeting happen on the 16th in Elkhart or not? Guess we’ll continue to ‘wait and see’ whether this idea sprouts wings and flies or not.


George Allen, CPM, MHM
EducateMHC