According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) was the following results to their recent survey for April 2024. A source at the NFIB previously told MHProNews that apparently manufactured home related companies have constituted hundreds of the organization’s members. Their monthly survey tracks member feedback on a range of subjects including credit conditions, hiring plans, capital expenditures (a.k.a.: “CapEx”) plans, job openings, and other details. The NFIB about us page states: “NFIB is the voice of small business, advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today.” Under the caption: “We Advocate” it says: “When a big issue affects small and independent businesses, NFIB is there.” Under the caption “We Influence” the organization stated: “When NFIB speaks, legislators listen. They know that we bring them the voice of small business. That voice, hundreds of thousands strong, comes directly from NFIB’s members and our research—combined, they make a powerful and influential case for our advocacy.”
That said, the latest report for April 2024 small business survey results are shown below.
Part I – Per NFIB Press Release – Inflation Continues to Hinder Small Business Operations
“Cost pressures remain the top issue for small business owners, including historically high levels of owners raising compensation to keep and attract employees,” said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB Chief Economist. “Overall, small business owners remain historically very pessimistic as they continue to navigate these challenges. Owners are dealing with a rising level of uncertainty but will continue to do what they do best – serve their customers.”
Key findings include:
- The net percent of owners who expect real sales to be higher rose six points from March to a net negative 12% (seasonally adjusted).
- A seasonally adjusted net 12% of owners reported planning to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from March’s lowest level since May 2020.
- A net 26% (seasonally adjusted) of owners plan price hikes in April, down seven points and the lowest reading since April of last year.
- Forty percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up three points from March, which was the lowest reading since January 2021.
- The net percent of owners raising average selling prices fell three points from March to a net 25% seasonally adjusted.
As reported in NFIB’s monthly jobs report, 56% of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in April, and of those hiring or trying to hire, 91% of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
Fifty-six percent of owners reported capital outlays in the last six months, unchanged from March. Of those making expenditures, 38% reported spending on new equipment, 24% acquired vehicles, and 16% improved or expanded facilities. Eleven percent spent money on new fixtures and furniture and 6% acquired new buildings or land for expansion. Twenty-two percent (seasonally adjusted) plan capital outlays in the next few months.
A net negative 13% of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reported higher nominal sales in the past three months. The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose six points to a net negative 12% (seasonally adjusted).
The net percent of owners reporting inventory gains rose one point to a net negative 6%. Not seasonally adjusted, 12% reported increases in stocks and 17% reported reductions. A net negative 4% (seasonally adjusted) of owners viewed current inventory stocks as “too low” in April. A net negative 6% of owners plan inventory investment in the coming months.
The net percent of owners raising average selling prices fell three points from March to a net 25% seasonally adjusted. Twenty-two percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, down three points from March.
Thirteen percent of owners reported lower average selling prices and 41% reported higher average prices. Price hikes were the most frequent in the finance (54% higher, 7% lower), retail (49% higher, 8% lower), construction (48% higher, 7% lower), manufacturing (40% higher, 7% lower), and wholesale (40% higher, 10% lower) sectors. Seasonally adjusted, a net 26% of owners plan price hikes in April.
Seasonally adjusted, a net 38% reported raising compensation in April. A net 21% (seasonally adjusted) of owners plan to raise compensation in the next three months, unchanged from March.
Eleven percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem, up one point from March and two points below the highest reading of 13% reached in December 2021. Nineteen percent said that labor quality was their top business problem, remaining behind inflation as the number one issue.
The frequency of reports of positive profit trends was a net negative 27% (seasonally adjusted), two points better than March but still a very poor reading. Among owners reporting lower profits, 33% blamed weaker sales, 14% blamed the rise in the cost of materials, 13% cited usual seasonal change, and 12% cited labor costs. For owners reporting higher profits, 43% credited sales volumes, 26% cited usual seasonal change, and 11% cited higher selling prices.
Three percent of owners reported that all their borrowing needs were not satisfied, up one point from March. Twenty-eight percent of owners reported all credit needs met and 60% said they were not interested in a loan. A net 8% reported their last loan was harder to get than in previous attempts.
Four percent of owners reported that financing was their top business problem in April. A net 21% of owners reported paying a higher rate on their most recent loan, up four points from March.
The NFIB Research Center has collected Small Business Economic Trends data with quarterly surveys since the fourth quarter of 1973 and monthly surveys since 1986. Survey respondents are randomly drawn from NFIB’s membership. The report is released on the second Tuesday of each month. This survey was conducted in April 2024.” The NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index (SBOI) asks a range of questions from their surveyed members. Plans to increase employment, plans to make capital outlays (CapEx), Plans to Increase (or decrease) Inventories, Expectations about Economy to Improve, Expectations on Real Sales Increasing, Current Inventory Levels (Up or Down), Current Job Openings, Credit (think access and costs) Conditions, Good Time to Expand, and Earnings Trends.
Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
In no particular order of importance are the following insights.
1) Per a Q&A with Bing’s Artificial Intelligence powered Copilot was the following response.
2) On 5.23.2024 and according the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI or “the Institute”) website is the following “directory” information.
Manufacturer and Lender Directory
AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Adventure Homes LLC
IN
TX
AZ
IN
AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
AL
Cavco Industries, Inc.
AZ
Champion Home Builders Inc.
MI
CIS Financial Services, Inc.
TN
TN
TN
Commodore Homes, LLC
IN
AL
PA
Fairmont Homes
IN
Fleetwood Homes, Inc.
AZ
IL, IN, IA, MI, OH, WI
NC
AL
Land Home Financial Services, Inc.
TX
Lument
NY
OK
Palm Harbor Homes, Inc.
TX
Pine Grove-Pleasant Valley Homes, Inc.
PA
Priority Funding
AZ, CT, DE, FL, ID, ME, MD, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VT, VA, WA
NC
Ritz-Craft Corp. of PA
PA
IN
Southern Energy Homes, Inc.
AL
DE, FL, KY, LA, ME, MO, NJ, OH, PA, SC, TX, VA, WV
Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc.
AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MS, MO, NV, NM, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WY
CA
AL, AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MO, OK, OR, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI
MHProNews notes: Several of the firms above are subsidiaries of or connected to a larger company. For instance. Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance (VMF) are all owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Skyline Champion (SKY) is the parent to Skyline and Champion, as well as other brand names operating in manufactured housing. R-Anell is part of Commodore are both are owned by Cavco Industries, which also owns Fleetwood, Palm Harbor Homes, and Fairmont. Berkshire owned Clayton owns CMH, Cavalier, Giles, and Southern Energy, among other brands.
3) On this date there per MHI is there a similar publicly available listing of manufactured home communities or ‘street retailers’ which are, presumably like the above, members of MHI.
4) On this date, there is no known publicly available list of all 50,000+ U.S. mobile home parks and manufactured home communities (MHCs) in the U.S. While MHVillage, the Frank Rolfe and Dave Reynolds associated MobileHomeParkStore.com, MHBay, MobileHome.net, Zillow and others are named by Copilot, none of them apparently offers all 50,000+ U.S. communities, but rather have thousands of fewer properties in their respective databases. Nor did Copilot on this date offer a list of street retailers, which have plunged in the 21st century.
5) Perhaps because MHI has “endorsed” Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) owned MHVillage, MHI – when citing the information on manufactured home, MHI oddly has understated for years the total number of land-lease communities. The fact-checked item below, which the base image was generated by MHI and that with its related MHProNews analysis and commentary were uploaded on July 19, 2023, understates the number of communities by some 7000. Note that the MHI generated infographic offers no estimate on the number of street retailers (a.k.a. ‘dealers’) of HUD Code manufactured homes, which are licensed by a state(s) to sell a new manufactured home in a given jurisdiction(s).
6) Because factories sell directly to street retailers and selling/leasing MHCs, it is apparent that the dwindling numbers of street retailers is a factor in limiting the numbers of new manufactured homes sold. While MHI has not offered a monthly totals on all new U.S. manufactured homes produced for some years, the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) has offered such a free public monthly report since the inception of their website.
7) While MHI claims to be working to grow “all segments” of the industry and to do lobbying and other legal efforts in favor such growth, the evidence suggests otherwise. Manufactured housing production has plunged in the 21st century. Zoning and financing hurdles are among the reasons. But so too is the apparently misleading ‘advocacy’ by MHI, which postures support for growth, but an array of information from sources inside and beyond manufactured housing reveals that they seem to be consolidation focused instead.
Note: to expand this image below to a larger or full size, see the instructions
below the graphic below or click the image and follow the prompts.
9) To reset these various facts, consider using the lens of what the NFIB reported as shown in Part I above. Consider the issues that smaller businesses of all kinds, including per NFIB hundreds of those involved in manufactured housing, said are impacting their operation. Plans to increase employment, plans to make capital outlays (CapEx), Plans to Increase (or decrease) Inventories, Expectations about Economy to Improve, Expectations on Real Sales Increasing, Current Inventory Levels (Up or Down), Current Job Openings, Credit (think access and costs) Conditions, Good Time to Expand, and Earnings Trends. There is nothing similar being publicly offered by MHI. While there may be many reasons, one possibility is it would only draw further attention to just how poorly the industry’s independents are doing in the 21st century when compared to the late 20th century. MHI declines to answer questions about such matters directly. Copilot can search the web for information from all available sources in a manner that sheds light on not only stated or postured claims, but also realities. So, it is no surprise that Copilot has said on several occasions in response to MHProNews inquiries that MHI needs to be more transparent, more accountable, and in essence should be behaving more like MHARR does if the industry is to organically grow.
10) So, in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, due to regulatory pressures, a lack of effective advocacy in the post-production sector, the most proven form of permanent affordable housing in modern American history is underperforming. See the following reports to learn more about the factors that are impacting and limiting HUD Code manufactured housing.
Notice: the headline and market recap graphics function for yesterday failed. MHProNews regrets the error.
That’s a wrap on this installment of “News Through the Lens of Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, stock, investing, data, metrics, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports linked herein. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship along with numerous awards in history. There have been several awards, honors and numerous public recognitions for his achievements in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. Kovach is a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHLivingNews.com and MHProNews. MHProNews is ranked as the runaway most read trade media in modern manufactured housing history. Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews) is the documented #1 largest and most read source for manufactured housing industry News Tips and Views Pros Can Use, per Webalizer 2.23 (on 5.22.2024) and known data. MHProNews gets millions of visits a year and has significantly more pageviews per visit than CNN or Fox per SimilarWeb’s stats for those two sites (but in fairness CNN and Fox sites get more much more total traffic). Statistics – Data – Infographics – Research – Facts – Evidence – Trends – and manufactured housing industry expert Analysis make us and keep us the runaway most read in MHVille trade media. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s editorial views and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
