Reforms Could Lift Manufactured Housing Sector

Arlington, VA, January 22, 2008--Deliveries of manufactured homes could rise by as much as 10% this year after potential reforms by the federal government and Fannie Mae.

Shipments could rise to 105,000 this year from about 95,000 in 2007, the Manufactured Housing Institute said.

The lobbying association said a bill to raise loan limits on the Federal Housing Administration's Title 1 program will increase funding for manufactured homes. Fannie Mae also has an initiative that would give lenders flexibility in underwriting manufactured homes.

The legislation "will be a real shot in the arm for manufactured housing," said U.S. Representative Joe Donnelly, an Indiana Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, on an MHI conference call. "We believe (President George W. Bush) will sign this into law."

Shipments of manufactured homes fell sharply from more than 350,000 annually in the late 1990s.

Manufactured housing has rebounded in some gulf coast states.

The FHA Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act would increase loan limits on Title I loans from $48,600 to $69,678 and index them on an annual basis. It would also make revisions that would allow more lenders to originate manufactured housing loans.