Texas’ manufactured housing starts 2021 strong after best December in ten years
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (Texas Real Estate Research Center) – Activity in Texas’ manufactured housing sector ramped up in January with accelerating production and sales, according to the latest Texas Manufactured Housing Survey (TMHS). These gains built off of a particularly strong fourth quarter.
“Manufactured housing plants in Texas had their best December in over a decade and finished the year shipping 5.4 percent more homes than they did in 2019 despite COVID-19 disruptions,” said Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA).
General business activity is expected to accelerate further heading into the spring selling season.
“The TMHS participating plants are reporting further increases in production capacity, which is good news as demand continues to shrink the available inventory on retail lots across the state,” Ripperda said.
Increased demand has been met with higher prices for finished homes, but inflationary pressure on the cost of raw materials and labor kept profit margins at bay. Supply-chain disruptions continued to plague the manufacturing process, and recent hopes of improvements in this area dwindled in January.
“Even with ongoing supply-chain disruptions, the manufactured housing industry continues to surprise us on the upside,” said Dr. Harold Hunt, research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) at Texas A&M University.
Manufacturers expressed optimism about the next six months despite rising uncertainty, and they expanded payrolls accordingly.
TRERC and TMHA have partnered to produce a monthly survey of business conditions and expectations surrounding the manufactured housing industry.
Funded primarily by Texas real estate licensee fees, the Texas Real Estate Research Center was created by the state legislature to meet the needs of many audiences, including the real estate industry, instructors, researchers, and the public. The Center is part of Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.
