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.
HousingWire says fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) dropped to their lowest rate since last November, suggesting that another decline in the housing market may be coming. According to Bankrate, its survey of major lenders revealed the average 30-year FRM fell to 4.69 percent last week. The average 15-year FRM declined to 3.88 […]
Falling Mortgage Rates May Signal Another Downturn Read More
Bloomberg News reports that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s Jamie Damon says losses have peaked in the United States mortgage industry. The chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the financial services and banking industry giant, says home prices may slip further, but the worst is behind us. JPM is
Chairman of Major Bank Says Mortgage Industry Bottom Hit Read More
PRLog reports that Epoch Homes, a modular builder from Pembroke, New Hampshire, is collaborating with two UMassachusetts colleges to build a net zero energy modular home. The Massachusetts College of Art and Design Department of Architecture, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell College of Engineering will work with Epoch to
Modular Builder Partners with Schools for Green Home Competition Read More
The Sacramento Bee says Origen Financial, Inc. (Pink Sheets:ORGN) reported a net loss of $2.8 million for the first quarter of this year, at 11 cents a share, versus a net loss in Q1 2010 of $5.2 million, or 20 cents a share. The company, a real estate investment trust
Portfolio Manager’s First Quarter Less Painful Than Q1 2010 Read More
Origination News reports a congressional hearing heard both sides of the aisle criticizing federal regulators for exempting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the five percent risk retention policy on non-qualified residential mortgages (QRMs). The Dodd-Frank Act (Dodd-Frank) exempts Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, but not
Congress and Industry Suggest Altering Risk Retention Read More
Manufactured housing personal property (chattel) lenders state that unless amended, once rule making goes into effect on the Dodd-Frank Act (Dodd-Frank), loans on homes under $78,000 will become history due to the increasing fixed transactional costs per loan required by the law. MH lenders’ records reveal that most personal property
Industry Pros Express Concerns over Dodd-Frank Implementation Read More
The Dow dropped 279.65 points in its worst day of trading since last August, as economic fears gathered, to close at 12,290.14, and most housing stocks followed suit. ELS gained 2.35 percent, but Skyline Corporation fell 5.70 percent, Cavco dropped 4.70 percent, Sun Communities lost 4.47 percent, Palm Harbor Homes
Dow Registers Big Fall, Many Housing Stocks Follow Read More
Following up on a story we published here March 17, Bloomberg reports that Bruce Ratner, CEO and chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer of the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, New York, plans to borrow $100 million to construct the 34-story modular apartment building. Thirty percent of the 400
Modular Apartments Still Set to Rise in Brooklyn Read More
RVBusiness says that real estate investment trust (REIT) Sun Communities, Inc., of Southfield, Michigan, acquired Orange City RV Resort in Orange City, Florida, for $6.47 million cash. Orange City has 517 RV sites and is less than 50 miles to Disney World and the Daytona Beach area. According to the
Sun (Communities) Becoming More Orange Read More
HousingWire reports that a survey of over 1,000 borrowers by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) revealed half could not afford the required 20 percent down payment under the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) plan, despite housing prices being at record lows. USA Today‘s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data
Home Buyers Stimulate Economy More than Renters Read More
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that eleven new manufactured homes are being showcased as examples of green technology applied to manufactured housing. Built with a combination of federal funds and local redevelopment dollars as part of an affordable housing initiative, the units have solar cells for energy and water
California City Backs Green, Affordable Manufactured Homes Read More
Staff members of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) met May 26 with Acting HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Assistant Secretary for Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner Bob Ryan, and career officials of the HUD manufactured housing program. Issues included consumer financing, changing HUD’s “trailer” orientation to “housing”
Chicago Real Estate Daily reports that Sam Zell’s Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) is adding 31,167 home sites to its portfolio of 111,002 home sites by buying 76 land lease communities (LLC) from Hometown America LLC, its Chicago-based competition. The properties are spread over 20 states. ELS will finance the $1.4
Equity LifeStyle Properties Acquires Chunk of Competitor Read More
The Dow gained 128.21 points on the day to close at 12,569.79, even though the month showed an overall loss of less than two percent since May 1. Housing stocks were also on the plus side. Palm Harbor Homes ended the day up 13.64 percent, Deer Valley climbed 11.11 percent,
Dow Ends Day Up, Month Down; Housing Stocks Close Up Read More
Zacks reports that SmarTrend says of the five top residential real estate investment trusts (REITs) with the highest free cash flow (FCF) per share, two are land lease community (LLC) owners. Equity Lifestyle Properties ranks in the top spot with free cash flow per share of 3.76x, and is also
Two LLCs Among Top REITs in Cash Flow Read More
Bloomberg says the S&P (Standard & Poor) Case/Shiller index of home prices fell in March 3.6 percent from March 2010, registering the biggest year-to-year decline since November 2009. Housing prices are the lowest since 2003 according to this survey of 20 U.S. cities. The first quarter of the year saw
Foreclosures Provide Slippery Slope for Home Prices Read More
The United Kingdom’s 24Dash reports that Powerwall has developed a three-bedroom energy efficient modular house for £57,000 (just under $95,000), excluding land and foundation, to help meet affordable housing needs in England. The house comes equipped with finished interiors, bathrooms and kitchens, and the estimated annual fuel cost is just
English Firm Develops Affordable Modular Housing Read More
SmallCap Network recommends three manufactured housing stocks as smart buys , because at some point the housing industry will pick up, and now is the time to “join the party.” It says Cavco Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVCO), is a good buy for the short term, but not the long term. The
Three Manufactured Housing Stocks on the Buy List Read More
The Boston Globe reports the only community of factory-built homes in Boston sits on the Charles River and is owned by the residents. The 104 unit community just received word from Mayor Thomas Menino that the city will invest $815,000 to upgrade sewers, roads and electric power lines. The article
Boston’s Sole Community of Factory-built Homes Gets Good News Read More
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that architect Michelle Kaufmann, termed “the Henry Ford of green homes” by the Sierra Club, says in order to attract people to energy efficient modular homes, we have to make it less expensive to live in than what people are paying now. She says we
Price Modular Green Housing Reasonably, says Architect Read More
