News Reports: Housing news updates and reports for Manufactured Home and Modular Housing Industry professionals and investors. Business – daily fact checks, market reports, and analysis.
OriginationNews says according to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings rose seven percent in October, but have declined by 31 percent from a year ago. However, the report indicates a backlog of foreclosures that have not been filed, that some megabanks are waiting for the pending robo-signing settlement. One attorney says he has …
JournalSentinel reports from Milwaukee that a Lustron house, made of porcelain-covered steel panels, is not considered historic and may be torn down. The company made about 2,600 of these prefabricated homes from 1948 to 1950 for returning GIs following World War II before going bankrupt. Innovative for its use of …
NationalMortgageNews states Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) has introduced legislation to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s share of the mortgage market to ten percent in ten years. The bill would go into effect six months after its passage. It also calls for the credit guarantee the GSEs provide mortgage …
Senate Bill Would Downsize Fannie and Freddie in Ten Years Read More
CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained some of the ground it lost yesterday as the Italian bond market was less of an ogre, and unemployment claims hit a seven month low. The Dow closed at 11.893.86, a gain of 112.92 points, or 0.96 percent. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured …
Dow Recovers Some Ground, Palm Harbor Stock Doubles Read More
CanadaWire reports Innovative Composites International,, Inc., of Toronto has inked a deal to supply Brazil S.A. with $160 million worth of EcoScape modular homes over the next three years. In the agreement with Brazilian contractor Millenium Brasil Limitada and consultant Green Intelligence Corporation, the large project homes will be shipped …
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announces the appointment of John Courson to head the Home Builders Institute (HBI), the non-profit workforce development division of NAHB. His focus at HBI will be in job placement, mentoring, training, and developing new revenue streams. Says Donald Pratt, chairman of HBI’s Board …
CNNMoney reports 30 minutes into the trading day stocks began plummeting amid fears of Italy’s worsening debt crisis coupled with the European Union’s lack of a plan to rescue Europe’s fourth largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a whopping 389.24 points, losing 3.20 percent to close at 11,780.94. …
HousingWire reports mortgage applications spiked 10.3 percent last week on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) market composite index. On an unadjusted basis the index increase amounted to 9.9 percent. Mortgage refinance applications accounted for 78.6 percent of all applications, an increase from 77.1 percent last …
MarketWatch reports Freehold, New Jersey-based UMH Properties, Inc., released its performance results for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2011. Funds from Operations (FFO) amounted to $6,529,000, $.45 per share, as compared to $.62 per share on FFO of $7,813,000 for the same nine months of 2010. Net income attributable …
GreenMuze reports a conceptual modular house featuring computer-controlled glass panels that control the amount of light entering the home is engineered for quick assembly, and is adaptable to harsh living conditions, including the desert. The California Roll House, created by designer Christopher Daniel, is engineered from fiber reinforced plastic and …
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) says the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) report in support of a “conditional sprinkler system” for HUD Code homes destroys the opportunity to debunk the myth that manufactured housing poses a fire risk worse than traditional one and two-family homes. The National …
MHARR Decries Sprinklers; NFPA says MHI Statement Incorrect Read More
RealtorMag reports a study by Builder Magazine and Hanley Wood Market Intelligence says urban areas with large universities, military bases, and strong private sector employment will drive the eight healthiest housing markets in 2012. Based on expected price appreciation, population growth, income growth, and improving employment picture, and factoring in …
ConnecticutCollege reports its steel prefabricated house in New London, CT, manufactured by General Houses, Inc., of Chicago will be disassembled and shipped to Milner + Carr in Philadelphia, where each panel will be cleaned and restored. Built in 1933 for Winslow Ames, founding director of the New London Lyman Allyn …
CNNMoney reports U.S. stocks rose from a noon low to gain 101.79 points following news of the impending resignation of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12170.18, a gain of 0.84 percent. The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite Value lost 0.69 percent to close …
Bradenton reports Champion Commercial Structures, a division of Champion Homes, will team with Russell Building Group to build 83 housing units for Flint, Michigan’s, Smith Village Neighborhood. Funded by a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant, the homes will replace thousands of dilapidated houses that were demolished, with low to …
VancouverSun reports the brothers Goodjohn were at the edge of disaster a couple of years ago with their high-end modular business, and now have ten office employees, 30 on the production line, and sales approaching $20 million. Businessman W. Brett Wilson helped Karoleena, Inc., develop a business plan and invested …
CrainsNewYork reports a conference in New York City to discuss the shortage and expense of housing in the city resulted in several innovative approaches by advocates and architects, including modular. Many of the proposals at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council are for smaller, cheaper quarters, and some suggest communal …
CNNMoney reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally gained during the last hour of trading, rising 85.15 points, a gain of 0.71 percent, closing at 12,068.39. Investors felt the crisis in Greece may be over with the resignation of Prime Minister George Papandreou, but concerns are growing over Italy’s $300 …
HousingWire reports housing prices fell 1.1 percent in Sept., marking the second straight month drop, according to the CoreLogic home price index. Single-family home prices fell 4.1 percent from Sept. 2010, and excluding distressed sales, dropped 1.1 percent from a year earlier. Core Logic Chief Economist Mark Fleming says prices …
TheStreet reports the one of the best investments outside the stock and bond market is in multi-family housing. A report by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says from 2006 to 2010, the number of renter households increased by 692,000 per year while owner households fell 201,000 annually. Real …
