Thursday, August 24, 2017

Rising Home Prices = More Mobile Homes

CNBC's Diana Olick reports the supply of low priced homes is lower than it has been for a long time.
Home prices are higher at virtually every price point, but the gains are biggest at the low end where demand is highest.

The median price of a home sold in July hit $258,300, the highest July price on record, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Realtors divide sales figures into six different price "buckets" in their monthly report. Sales in the range of $100,000 or below were down 14 percent compared with a year ago, while sales of million-dollar and higher homes jumped nearly 20 percent.
Basically, this means more people will be living in the mis-named "mobile homes." Not to be confused with recreational vehicles, these homes are anything but truly mobile, typically being moved only once. Some end up on foundations, others perch somewhat precariously on cement blocks.

It is affordable housing mass produced in factories. Particularly in rural areas, dropping a single-wide, or if more affluent, double-wide mobile home on a lot or in the parent's farmyard does the job for many.

Those who can't afford the lot and who don't have a relative to 'park' beside may rent a space in a mobile home park while owning their 'coach.' It isn't luxury living and even when coach and land are both owned not much of an investment, but it does provide affordable shelter.