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.
Across parts of the United States, many would-be homebuyers are shut out by rising prices and tight supply. Manufactured housing has stepped into that gap as a lower-cost, faster-built option. Lenders and government programs have expanded access in recent years, and factory shipments recovered after the early pandemic slump. At the same time, a growing wave of investor purchases of manufactured-housing communities has led to widespread complaints about lot-rent hikes, fee increases and displacement risks for long-time residents.
Manufactured homes today are often higher quality and more energy efficient than older models. Many include features associated with site-built houses, such as front porches, garages, pitched roofs and open floor plans, while selling for far less per square foot. Industry data show the average cost per square foot for a manufactured home at about $87, roughly half the average site-built cost of $166. The average sale price of a manufactured unit in 2024 was reported at about $123,300, compared with a median single-family home value of about $367,282 — noting that the manufactured-home price usually excludes land.
More than 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and factory-built units make up about one in every 10 new homes constructed each year. Production fell sharply during the start of the pandemic but recovered rapidly: factory shipments reached an annualized peak of roughly 122,000 units in March 2022. Shipments dipped with higher inflation and mortgage rates, falling nearly a third by March 2023, but rose again to about 103,300 homes in 2024 and an annualized rate of around 106,000 by May 2025.
Access to financing has improved. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expanded a manufactured-home lending program nationwide after a pilot. The two government-sponsored enterprises also offer programs that make conventional manufactured-home loans more widely available: one program targets higher-end factory-built homes while the other opens more conventional financing options. These programs can bring competitive interest rates and low down payment choices, though they include restrictions and eligibility rules.
Lenders must follow federal safety and construction standards set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for homes to qualify. Additional requirements can include minimum size, production date cutoffs, professional inspections and a specialized appraisal form known as the 1004C. Appraisers and underwriters sometimes struggle to find comparable sales in local markets, which can complicate approvals. If HUD tags or data plates are missing, lenders must obtain verification from the only recognized source for that documentation.
Manufactured housing is most common in the South. In 2024, Texas led in total shipments, followed by Florida and North Carolina. When measured as a share of all new single-family housing, the top states were Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia. Many of the states with the highest shares of manufactured homes also rank near the bottom in overall housing construction.
Manufactured-housing communities are the nation’s largest source of nonsubsidized affordable housing. Historically, many parks were built and run by small owners on lower-valued land, keeping lot rents low. Over the last decade investors and private-equity firms have bought many communities, drawn by steady returns and light regulation. Institutional purchases rose from about 13% of deals in 2017–2019 to about 23% in 2020–2021, and an estimate suggests investors bought around 800,000 lots between 2014 and 2022.
Residents and advocates say some investor-owned parks use an “acquire-and-improve” model that ends up raising lot rents and fees, sometimes sharply. Complaints include sudden rent increases, new fees, infrastructure problems and lease nonrenewals. In many states resident protections are limited or vary widely. Where protections are weak, buyers may have more leverage to change rules or raise rents. A federal agency put in place some notice rules tied to certain financing, but those protections apply only to specific loans and do not cover every resident.
For many homeowners who do not own the land under their house, moving is costly and often impossible; about one-third of the manufactured housing stock is too old to be legally moved. That creates a captive market and increases the risk residents will be displaced when owners change. Some residents have attempted to use tenant-rights purchase laws to buy communities when properties go on the market, but these efforts often lack the capital to outbid investor buyers or are limited by rules that prioritize “good faith” offers rather than matching the highest outside offer.
Manufactured housing can play a key role in providing affordable homes, and new lending and lending programs make it more accessible. Still, the rise of investor ownership of parks has highlighted gaps in tenant protections, data transparency and state-level oversight. Policymakers and advocates point to the need for clearer rules on rent increases, better resident notice and stronger data on park sales and evictions. Lenders and specialists who build consistent internal processes and use experienced partners can find a niche in manufactured-home lending, where few loan officers currently focus.
The analysis summarized here uses census and industry survey data for shipments and production, housing-cost comparisons from the housing market index, lender program descriptions and regulatory updates, and reporting on owner-operator activity and resident complaints. It combines production, price and policy information to show both opportunity and risk in the growing manufactured-housing sector.
A manufactured home is built off-site in a factory and then transported to its final location. Modern models often include features similar to site-built homes and must meet federal construction and safety standards.
On average, the cost per square foot for manufactured homes is about $87 versus roughly $166 for site-built homes, making manufactured units significantly less expensive to buy.
Loan access has improved through USDA programs and two government-sponsored programs that expand conventional lending for qualifying manufactured homes. However, these loans have special rules and paperwork, including a specialized appraisal form and HUD compliance requirements.
Risks include rising lot rents and fees when ownership changes, limited tenant protections in many states, high costs to move a home, and the possibility of lease nonrenewal. Investor ownership has been linked to more frequent and larger rent increases in some cases.
Buyers priced out of traditional homes can gain affordable ownership. The sector also provides a large amount of nonsubsidized affordable housing nationwide. But residents who do not own the land remain vulnerable unless stronger protections exist.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Average manufactured cost per sq. ft. | $87 |
| Average site-built cost per sq. ft. | $166 |
| Average sale price (manufactured, 2024) | $123,300 (home value only) |
| Median single-family value (comparison) | $367,282 (home + land) |
| Production peak (annualized) | ~122,000 units (March 2022) |
| Shipments (2024) | ~103,300 units |
| Shipments (2023) | 89,169 units |
| Shipments (May 2025 annualized) | ~106,000 units |
| People living in manufactured homes | More than 22 million |
| Share of new homes that are manufactured | About 1 in 10 |
| Major financing changes | USDA national program; two government-sponsored enterprise programs expanding conventional loans; specialized paperwork and HUD standards required |
| Policy and tenant concerns | Investor park purchases, lot-rent increases, variable state protections, high cost to move units, incomplete national data |
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