Texas housing manufacturers optimistic about 2025  

COLLEGE STATION – The September Texas Manufactured Housing Survey (TMHS) revealed a recovery in production, halting a two-month decline in daily output rates. However, new orders decreased for the second consecutive month, leading to the first downturn in production outlook since October 2022. 

Despite this short-term pullback, TMHS respondents predict strong increases in business activity six months ahead, coinciding with the spring 2025 selling season. Capital expenditures remain robust, with expectations for further investment. 

While outlook uncertainty worsened in September, possibly due to the upcoming presidential election, manufacturers anticipate less uncertainty in the coming months. Future expectations for government regulatory burdens remain muted despite impending federal regulation changes coming for manufactured housing. 

“In September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced its most significant update to the HUD Code in over 30 years,” said Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA). “These changes will incorporate consumer-requested designs and allow manufacturers to build duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. With average prices per square foot of $82 for single-section homes and $88 for multi-section homes in 2023, this expansion could significantly increase affordable housing supply where needed most.” 

Manufacturers have reported a consistent decrease in both the cost of raw materials and the prices of finished homes over recent months, a trend that is expected to continue. However, potential disruptions such as another dock strike at East Coast and Gulf of Mexico ports by year’s end could influence future material costs.  

“Reuters reports that the tentative wage deal that ended the recent dock strike only extends the current contract to January 15^th of next year,” said Harold Hunt, Ph.D., research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University (TRERC). “Other issues, such as the possibility of increasing automation at the ports, are not settled and are still under discussion. Supply chain disruptions have been muted for some time, but manufacturers are signaling that they may increase in the months ahead.” 

Although survey results reveal that the volume of out of state shipments are expected to fall in the next few months, recent hurricanes hitting the U.S. southeast could impact these projections. 

This monthly sentiment survey gauges current conditions and expectations surrounding Texas’ manufactured housing industry. All members of the Texas Manufactured Housing Association with manufacturing facilities in the state are invited to participate, and the survey panel represents 89 percent of HUD-code homes produced in Texas. The survey was created by TRERC, who administers it and calculates the responses.