Comparison of the Costs of Site-Built and Manufactured Housing

Manufactured housing holds promise as an affordable form of housing that could expand homeownership opportunities for low-and moderate-income households at a time when house value growth is outpacing income gains in markets across the country (JCHS 2022). Simple comparisons of the cost of manufactured housing to site-built housing find that manufactured housing offers significant cost advantages, derived in large part from greater efficiencies in purchasing, production, and installation.

However, recent comparisons are relatively simplistic, comparing the average cost of homes built without considering differences in size, amenities, or the costs of transporting and siting manufactured homes. The goal of this study is to document the cost of comparable site-built and manufactured homes such that these differences are accounted for. To achieve this, we analyze three common types of manufactured homes: single-section, double-section, and CrossModTM.

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