RealEstateRama says Thayer Long, CEO and president of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), refuted charges by IBIS World Inc., that manufactured housing is a dying industry.  While noting the pace of new manufactured homes sales has declined 57 percent in the last five years, the comparable statistic for new single-family site built homes since 2005 shows a decrease of 76 percent.  He notes the year 2010 marked the lowest number of new site-built homes in nearly 50 years.  Over 19 million people live in manufactured housing.  He says, “Over the past five years, excesses in the site-built housing market contributed to one of the greatest economic disasters in generations.  Buyers assumed more debt and more house than they could afford, and this behavior was supported by the marketplace.”