In 2022, the county trailed just behind Harris County in installments of new manufactured homes. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, manufactured homes are factory-assembled housing that is transported to sites in one or more units.According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey, 19,865 homes were shipped to Texas in 2022, more than any other state. As of March, 3,455 had arrived in Texas in 2023.Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association, said manufactured homes help accommodate housing needs as more people migrate to the state.
“Eight to 10% of the new housing construction in Texas for a long time has come from manufactured homes,” he said. “Texas is the largest state for the number of manufactured housing factories, production and placements.”
Real estate experts, developers and builders attribute the trend to affordability, product quality and ease of construction. In fast-growing counties, such as Harris and Montgomery, Ripperda said manufactured housing communities are creating a sense of community while providing an easy and fast setup process.
Creating a community
At least four manufactured housing communities have opened in Montgomery County in the last five years.
Rockrose Ranch, a 700-home community, opened in Willis in early March, according to prior Community Impact reporting. The 170-acre community west of I-45 features a gated active adult village as well as a section of homes open to all ages. Rockrose Ranch’s website lists homes ranging from $109,900 to $268,000, and it will feature a dog park, playground, pools and fitness center upon build-out.
Rockrose Ranch is managed by Inspire Communities, an Arizona-based property management company that specializes in manufactured homes. Marketing Director Heidi Loftin said she believes modern manufactured housing communities were created to offer affordable housing to residents with the feeling of community.
“People want that social connection of being a part of a community, and they want good quality at the same time,” Loftin said.
JeffAnthony Garcia, general manager for manufactured homebuilder Cavco In-Neighborhood, said homes in Rockrose Ranch were built by Cavco. Cavco is also a partner of The Reserve at Sleepy Hollow, which held a grand opening in June; Pine Acre Trails in Conroe, which opened in 2021; and The Village at Lake Conroe in Montgomery, which began moving in homes in 2022.
Garcia said manufactured housing communities have become more popular over the last five years, and he expects another 3,000 homesites within five other communities to begin building in and around Montgomery County in the next few years.
Although Garcia said he could not provide the names or locations of the properties at this time, he said they will span from Conroe to Katy.
“When people want to have the lifestyle of not being in an apartment complex but can’t afford traditional housing, they lean on manufactured housing,” he said.
Local outlook
For those looking to place a manufactured home on their own property, Ramsey Cohen, Clayton Homes’ director of community and industry affairs, said Conroe’s existing zoning laws are not overly restrictive on off-site built housing. Clayton Homes sells manufactured homes.
“It is easier for a customer to find a great property for their new home here,” he said.
According to data prepared by Ripperda, the largest concentration locally of manufactured home sales in 2023 is in Conroe; 101 homes have been sold in 2023 as of June followed by 37 in Willis and 20 in Montgomery.
Isaiah Shepherd, general manager for Clayton Conroe—the local branch of Clayton Homes—said he believes manufactured homes are a good investment in 2023.
“[Renters] are not getting anything back from that, but with a mobile home you can trade it in, trade it up or sell it with the property,” he said.
Shepherd said manufactured homes are often considered to depreciate in value over time. However, he said an investment is only lost if the house is sold without the property due to not recouping the cost of setting up utilities.
Growth in Montgomery County is a driving factor in manufactured home sales, Shepherd said. Last year, Clayton Conroe sold over 485 manufactured homes in the county, more than double the 221 sales in 2021.
“It’s all about affordability, quality and how energy efficient they are,” he said. “They look and feel just like a traditional house, except cheaper and built on I-beams.”
Behind the trend
According to Richr, a homeselling website, the average new home construction in Texas costs around $447,500, not including the price of land. In comparison, the U.S. Census Bureau reports the average price for a new single-wide manufactured home in the U.S. was $88,000 in November.
“Higher interest rates impact industries differently,” said Harold Hunt, senior research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center, in a news release June 7. “For example, higher mortgage rates reduce housing affordability, and some prospective buyers leave the site-built market and enter the manufactured-housing sphere.”
Ripperda said the increased quality of manufactured housing has also drawn more buyers. According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, manufactured homes today use the same building materials as traditional site-built homes, are engineered for safety and energy efficiency, and are regulated by federal law.
“Products have come a long way over the years as technology advances,” Ripperda said. “It’s a different world.”
