Manufactured Homes Are Now a Top-Tier Wealth Build

Manufactured Homes Are Now a Top-Tier Wealth Builder—Here’s Where They’re Most Popular

Manufactured homes (formerly known as mobile homes) have become an increasingly popular option for Americans itching to own property.

The median manufactured home listing price in the U.S. in February was $141,450—down 5.7% year over year, according to the Realtor.com® Perks of the Park: Mobile Homes as an Affordable Alternative Report. That's substantially lower than the median single-family-home listing price ($410,000) and the median condo listing price ($365,000).

It breaks down to a significant monthly savings for homeowners. The estimated principal and interest payment for a median manufactured home was $678, compared with $1,918 for a standard home. That's less than half the national median rent—$1,918.


Making the move to mobile
"Mobile homes" refers to anything built before June 15, 1976 (pre-HUD code), while "manufactured homes" are those built after.

Manufactured homes offer some obvious advantages over standard ones, including the opportunity to live in wildly desirable locales for a fraction of the cost. Take the Los Angeles metro area, for example, where the median home price is north of $1.13 million. You can find manufactured homes at the low end for a tenth of the price—though there's also a luxury manufactured home market where homes top out at nearly $2 million.

Owners of manufactured homes with land are seeing greater returns on their investments compared with single-family homes. Over the last seven years, manufactured homes sold with land appreciated in value by 70.1%, compared with typical single-family homes, which saw a 58.6% increase.

The advantages only increase if you're considering a new build. New build manufactured homes can often be ready in weeks, and offer owners the opportunity to customize finishes and floor plans. Going manufactured doesn't mean you have to skimp on size; the median manufactured home was 1,248 square feet.

Written by Julie Gerstein