March through August are generally the peak real estate buying months. But this time , Americans purchased fewer new homes in that stretch than in any other six month period since record-keeping began a half-century ago. And sales of previously occupied properties didn’t fare any better . They practically matched 2009′s total for those peak buying months. And that was the worst since 1997. Combined, total sales this spring and summer were the weakest on records dating back to 1963. The figures underscore how badly the housing market is faring and suggest that the projected recovery is years away.
The only area of home sales that seems to be showing any growth is that of factory-built homes. Manufactured home sales continue to rise, in stark contrast to the sad numbers of traditionally built home sales. Many factors may be contiributing to this shift in consumer housing choices, but the economy is surely the leading cause.
Because the economy is hardly growing and unemployment tops 9 percent , many people see a traditional house purchase as too big a risk . Some worry about losing their jobs . Others can’t afford the 20 percent downpayment that most lenders now require . Not even shrunken home prices and the lowest mortgage rates in six decades are convincing potential buyers. But as buyers are pausing to really think through their motives for buying homes, and consider the best options for their families in the long-term , factory built homes are showing a surge in purchases as consumers turn to factory-built homes as a better investment in this troubled economy .
Michael McGrew, who runs McGrew Real Estate in Lawrence, Kansas , said many families won’t purchase until the economy strengthens . Even in Lawrence, which had a lower unemployment rate of 6.4 percent in July and is home to the University of Kansas, people are worried, he said. What would help most would be a relocated company that’s ready to hire in the Lawrence area, McGrew says. But hopes for the housing market to turn about soon are dim, he said. “We’re seeing more people trading down their home or trading out of this market entirely,” McGrew said.
Throughout the nation , prices are still falling. Prices for previously occupied properties have sunk more than 5 percent over the past year to a median of $168,300. New-home prices have fallen even further, by 7.7% , to $209,100. But even at those lower prices, traditional homes, whether they be new or previously occupied , cannot compete against the amazing low price per square foot of brand new manufactured homes, and the buyers now know it.
Factory Direct Cedar Cabin Homes
That suggests builders and realtors are slashing prices to compete with low-priced foreclosures and short sales , as well as new factory-built homes. Combined, short sales and foreclosures are selling at an average 20% discount. And they’re lowering neighboring home values. Factory built homes, on the other hand , are now recognized to typically improve a neighborhood’s home values because of the benefit of modern construction techniques and materials which allow these homes to go up next door without showing any difference in the quality of construction compared to the traditionally built homes nearby.
Manufactured Home Floor Plan Search
As economists make terrible predictions that it will take longer than expected for the housing market to recover, home buyers are seeing the benefits in a more affordable traditional housing market, as well as this boom in factory built housing that shifts our focus away from overpriced cookie-cutter suburbs and allows buyers to create a low cost custom-built home all their own at far below the cost of a traditional property, whether it be new or previously occupied .
