Texas manufactured housing industry tempers still solid expectations

COLLEGE STATION – The September 2025 Texas Manufactured Housing Survey (TMHS) revealed a softening in the manufactured housing market with factories reporting a decline in current business activity, company outlook and the number of floors sold per day when compared to August.  

There were still production output declines in September though they were much less widespread than they were in August. Backlogs grew shorter for a large segment of the market as the reduction in order volume and a downshift in shipments of homes outside Texas pulled the total orders in queue lower.  

Despite the decline in overall activity, prices received for finished homes increased for the second straight month even as supply chain disruptions and labor costs remained flat and the cost for raw materials saw only a slight increase. 

“Texas manufactured housing plants successfully transitioned to the updated HUD-code in September and are now delivering those new homes to retailers across the state,” said Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA). “The process of changing over to the updated electrical and structural requirements of the new code increased the cost of goods sold for manufacturers and we’re seeing that reflected in higher prices for the finished homes. Prices are expected to move sideways going forward, so this is a one-time price adjustment incorporating the increased costs of the regulatory change.” 

The effect of the code transition was also evident in TMHS respondents noting that regulatory burden was still increasing for the second straight month in September, but respondents were not expecting any additional increase in burden moving forward. 

The overall shift in conditions felt by manufacturers in September reversed the stabilization in uncertainty that they had reported in the preceding two months and pushed sentiment back down to the range it has been for the majority of months this year. 

“Continued volatility in tariffs and immigration policy may be the cause of greater uncertainty in the manufactured housing outlook,” said Harold Hunt, Ph.D., research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) at Texas A&M University. “Current indicators suggest the effect is having a greater impact on homebuyers than on the industry’s workforce.”  

Expectations for the next six months were markedly lower for several categories including general business activity, company outlook, and number of employees, but the levels remained in positive territory meaning more of the market expects improvement rather than continued worsening.    

Overall, manufacturers continue to anticipate stronger plant activity, orders and sales by March 2026, with less regulatory drag and softer price inflation. Similar to previous surveys, this month’s results reinforce the theme of a brighter future ahead. 

The TMHS monthly sentiment survey gauges current conditions and expectations surrounding Texas’ manufactured housing industry. All TMHA members with manufacturing facilities in the state are invited to participate, and the survey panel represents 94 percent of HUD-code homes produced in Texas. The survey was created by TRERC, who administers it and calculates the responses.