Manufactured home shipments for December 2011 were 3,838 new homes, up 38.0 percent from December 2010. Increases were across the board with shipments of both single-section and multi-section homes up compared with the same month last year. Single section homes accounted for the largest portion of the increase, with shipments up 54.5 percent compared with December 2010 figures. The increases were, in part, due to the purchase of 1,735 homes (mainly new single section homes) by FEMA, in the last quarter of 2011 (see Note).

Compared with 2010, shipments of new manufactured homes in 2011 declined in each of the first seven months. August marked the first year-over-year monthly gain with the upward trend continuing through the end of the year. Industry shipments for the year-to-date stand at 51,606 homes compared with 50,046 homes in the previous year, a net increase of 3.1 percent.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of shipments was 55,478 in December, down 18.9 percent from the rate of 68,389 in November 2011. The SAAR corrects for normal seasonal variations in shipments and projects annual shipments based on the current monthly total.

Total floors shipped in December 2011 were 5,885, an increase of 33.6 percent over December 2010. The number of plants reporting production in December was 122, down three from last month. The number of manufacturing companies was 45, unchanged from the prior month.

Click here to access the December 2011 report. If you are an MHI member, you can also access the report on MHI’s website at www.manufacturedhousing.org.

Note: Shipment and production figures were impacted by the purchase of approximately 1,735 manufactured homes by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The FEMA homes were built and shipped in October, November and December of 2011. While a breakdown of FEMA homes by state and month is not available, these homes are included in the production and shipment figures provided in this report. States that serve as staging areas for warehousing homes or that received new homes in response to natural disasters, have the FEMA homes included in their monthly and annual shipment figures. In particular, in November a significant number of FEMA homes were shipped to Maryland, Alabama and North Dakota.