Blog Posting # 858; Copyright 12 September 2025. EducateMHC
Know this! HUD-Code manufactured housing (‘MH’) is federally-regulated, performance-based, affordable-attainable, factory-built housing (a.k.a. one of four types of offsite construction; the other three being modular & panelized housing, & Park Model RVs), routinely paired with traditional stick-built housing (a.k.a. onsite construction). Plus, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the commercial real estate (‘CRE’) component of MH. Various types of housing finance (e.g. chattel or ‘home only’ loans, and real estate mortgages constitute the post-production segment of MH.
EducateMHC is an official MH historian, trade term & trend tracker, as well as perennial MH information source! Contact EducateMHC via (317) 881-3815; email gfa7156@aol.com, and www.educatemhc.com to purchase Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (This book belongs in every land lease community nationwide!), and SWAN SONG –History of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955.
And my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven, describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam as a USMC lieutenant, a 45 year entrepreneur business career in MH & community ownership, as well as freelance consulting and authoring of 20 nonfiction texts.
George Allen is the sole emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), a founding board member of MHI’s National Communities Council (‘NCC’) division, RV/MH Hall of Fae enshrinee, Allen Legacy columnist & editor at large for the popular MHInsider magazine.
TOTAL U.S. HOUSING COMPLETIONS DURING JULY 2025
EducateMHC’s Economic Report: Total new onsite & offsite homes completed!
This total U.S. Housing Completion Report for July 2025 combines online data from the U.S. Census Bureau (i.e. their annual estimated onsite construction completion total divided by 12 months; then adding offsite construction completions comprised of 1) HUD-code manufactured housing production data from the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (‘IBTS’), 2) modular & panelized housing units estimated to be 2% of onsite construction completion total, and 3) RV Industry of America (‘RVIA’) website report of monthly production of Park Model RVs – a type of accessory dwelling unit (‘ADU’).
A disturbing albeit historic fact! The U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Completion Report today, cites only estimated onsite construction completion totals (i.e. stick-built homes), totally ignoring four types of offsite construction, a.k.a. factory-built housing; specifically, HUD-Code manufactured housing, modular & panelized housing, and Park Model RVs. Result? Under estimation of total U.S. housing completions month after month after month. If you agree the time has come to broaden the data reporting scope of the U.S. Census Bureau, read on…
The real U.S. Housing Completion total for July 2025. Rather than there being just 117,917 new onsite construction homes completed during this time frame, the all-encompassing estimated total (i.e. including 10,973 offsite construction units) is 128,890 new onsite & offsite construction homes – a difference of 10,973 and an underestimated total for all of 2025 of 131,676 new homes.
What are the ‘numbers’ that make up these totals?
U.S. Census Bureau, for the month of July 2025, reports 117,917 single-family, site-built, privately-owned onsite housing completions (i.e. this is 1/12th of the published annual total of 1,415,000 completions). Meanwhile, the monthly grand total, inclusive of four types of offsite construction (Again, 10,973 HUD-Code housing + modular & panelized homes + Park Model RVs) totals 128,890 total U.S. housing completions during July 2025.
So why does the U.S. Census Bureau continue to research and report ‘half a loaf’ where onsite and offsite housing completions is concerned? Your guess is as good as mine, though I sense conventional housing builders are not interested in any recognition of the factory-produced housing used on privately-owned, scattered building sites, and within land lease communities. Anyone care to prove me wrong?
As we’ve said before, this ‘Total U.S. Housing Completion Report’ is indeed a work in progress. Let us know what you think of this interplay between onsite and offsite housing statistics: gfa7156@aol.com
‘LET’S TALK’
Will you be at the annual SECO Conference in Atlanta, GA., 8-10 September? Well, I will be and I’d like to propose a new interpersonal protocol for regional and national meetings attended by manufactured housing aficionados and owner/operators of land lease communities. And this year’s SECO Conference is a good place to begin.
Heretofore, interpersonal protocol has been described as informal networking among peers. Nothing wrong with that. I’d just like to take the matter a formal step forward. Here’s how. We already know we can’t count on the organizers and hosts of regional and national trade meetings to arrange for scheduled, stimulating conversations focused on business issues at the time.
Here are three topics I’m making myself available to discuss during the SECO Conference.
This very topic of Total U.S. Housing Completions. Whether the U.S. Census Bureau should continue underreporting housing completions month after month after month. Or, bring offsite construction into the fold to join with onsite construction reporting – and how to bring this about. Your opportunity to comment upon and discuss a national MH issue.
Have you visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum and library in Elkhart, IN.? If not, you really should. It’s a very large collection of vintage RVs and manufactured homes, all under one huge roof. It’s the veritable preserver of our two industries’ history and legacy. I’m in the midst of researching and authoring a comprehensive history of the Hall of Fame, and if you have stories to tell, please talk to me about them. This is your opportunity to input!
And finally. As one approaches the end of a business career, it behooves one to think about the legacy they’ll be leaving for colleagues, friends, family, and employees. Do you know the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? Simply, a memoir is a short story; an autobiography is a collection of those short stories – whether personal, familial, or career-related. Stop and talk to me about starting to pen your memoirs and possibly an autobiography in the future. Who else in the MH industry is willing to help you learn this process?
If you’re not attending the SECO Conference, talk to me anyway; via gfa7156@aol.com
Parting thought. Why isn’t this sort of interpersonal protocol part of every regional and national – even state association gathering? It boggles my mind to think of the many and varied topics now begging open discussion-leading-to-action. For example: national brand marketing of manufactured housing, greater emphasis on professional property management of land lease communities nationwide, and broader use of lease option methodology when marketing manufactured homes onsite.
See you in Atlants!
George Allen