The diversity of today's manufactured home and the amenities
available means that there is a home to meet practically
any lifestyle. Homes range in size from 700 square feet to
over 3,000 square feet.
The average purchase price of a new dual section manufactured
home in 2005 was $97,940. The average purchase
price for a single section home was $54,645. The price range
of homes sold in December of 2005 was $23,014 to
$369,000. (Note: Purchase price does not include cost of
land.)
More than 1.4 million Californians live in nearly 650,000
manufactured homes. Manufactured housing is a significant
portion of the California housing stock, representing nearly 7
percent of all new single-family homes sold last year, and over
9 percent of all homes sold in California. During 2005, over
63,000 California families purchased a new or existing manufactured
home.
The profile of those who have purchased manufactured
homes in the past decade demonstrates that significant
changes are occurring in the characteristics of manufactured
homeowners. Recent purchasers are younger, more affluent,
have larger families, have attained a higher level of education
and are less likely to be retired than manufactured homeowners
as a whole. Most are siting their homes on individually
owned lots as opposed to traditional land-lease communities.
Increased reliance on factory production has resulted
in major changes in the efficiency of housing construction. Builders
today routinely use prefabricated wall panels, prehung doors, windows,
pre-assembled stairs, roof trusses and cabinets. Advantages of factory
construction include better control of building and financing costs,
more efficient control of inventory and the ability to better control
the quality and performance of products.
By passing factory construction cost advantages to the
home buyer, we increase the value of manufactured housing and opportunities
for financing and homeownership.
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A key to understanding today's manufactured home is distinguishing
it from other homes that are constructed in a factory. Most factory
homes are comprised of three-dimensional modules. These modules are
transported to a home site and installed on a state approved foundation
or support system. California law clearly distinguishes among the types
of factory-produced homes by the building code to which the home must
comply.
Manufactured homes are constructed to comply with the
National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, a uniform
building standard administered and enforced by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development. About 97 percent of all factory homes
constructed in California each year meet this code.
Factory-built homes, often called modular homes, are
constructed to comply with the California Administrative Code. Some
factorybuilt homes employ panelized construction techniques. About
three percent of all factory homes produced in California factories
each year meet this code.
Since June 1976, all manufactured homes
in the United States have been built to the
National Home Construction and Safety
Standards (the HUD Code). The HUD Code,
under federal law, preempts all local building
codes for these single-family dwellings. The
HUD label certifies that the home has been
factory constructed, tested and inspected to
comply with stringent, uniform federal standards
which are periodically up-dated.
The HUD Code, administered by the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, is the counterpart to national
model codes for site-built housing. These
model codes include the Uniform Building
Code of the International Conference of
Building Officials, upon which California local
governments base their building codes. |
