Are you familiar with HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)?

From the the CFPB…“The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires many financial institutions to maintain, report, and publicly disclose loan-level information about mortgages. These data help show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of their communities; they give public officials information that helps them make decisions and policies; and they shed light on lending patterns that could be discriminatory. The public data are modified to protect applicant and borrower privacy.”

This is good news for industry analysts. We can map and analyze industry trends using the HMDA data and be very confident in its accuracy. Because there is no nationwide reporting system for manufactured housing buyer information, the HMDA loan data is the best source for customer data.

How Complete is the Dataset?

According to the National Association of Realtors, nearly 90% of borrowers will finance their home purchase. And 96% of buyers under the age of 53 will finance their home purchase. This means that close to 90% of home sales will be captured by the HMDA data. 

While the dataset does not include ALL manufactured home buyers, it does include most of them. What it misses is the cash buyer, of which there are a few, but not enough to make this dataset inaccurate. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough for marketing analytics. If we’re looking at trends, it is accurate enough for our needs.

MH Loan Data Summary

Nationwide in 2023, there were approximately 171,100* consumer loans originated for the purchase of a new OR used manufactured home. There were 2863 lenders that originated at least 1 manufactured home loan, new or used, up from 2347 in 2022, an increase of 18%. New lenders in the industry is great news.

Does the number of lenders seem high? I’m guessing so. It certainly surprised me the first time I started reviewing this data. There are a few key lenders with whom we’re all familiar, but based on the data, there are thousands more that are willing to help manufactured home buyers finance their home purchase.

Before we look at the top lenders, let’s look at some data summaries that may be useful for your own marketing. First, we’ve got the median income of all manufactured housing buyers. It comes in at right around $55,000, which is less than nationwide median income of $74,580. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis)  This should not be a surprise. Manufactured Housing is a value driven product, and those in lower income tiers put value and affordability at the top of their home requirements list.

Like last year, the median income of a manufactured home buyer increased at much larger rate than the increase in the overall median family income. In 2022, the median annual income of a manufactured home buyer was right around $50,000. In 2023, it’s nearly $55,000, an increase of almost 10%. What this means is that higher income earners are taking interest in manufactured housing. This is a trend we want to continue.

The chart below is the number of manufactured homes purchased by each age group. The median age of a manufactured home buyer was between 25 and 34. This shouldn’t be too shocking, as that’s the median age group purchasing site built homes as well. The 25-34 year old has had a career for a few years, and is looking to purchase a home as they start to settle down. 

It’s important to remember this age group in your marketing. Remember that you’re speaking to someone that’s never known life without the Internet or a cell phone, likes green products, and will likely do most of their purchase research online. You have to have an excellent digital experience to appeal to the 25-34 home buyer.

I’ve been in this industry awhile, and I know that many of us (most?) are not in the 25-34 age group. This means that when you’re choosing products, marketing, etc. you need to realize that you are talking to someone that is different from you. You need to think like a 25-34 year old in order to sell to a 25-34 year old.

Top States for Manufactured Home Loans

Top 10 Counties for Manufactured Homes Loans

Top 20 Manufactured Home Lenders

See any surprise on the list? I saw some. In the past 10+ years, the quality of manufactured homes has advanced by leaps and bounds, and lenders are starting to notice. They’re starting to notice that a customer with a decent credit score and a good job will pay their manufactured home mortgage just as well as a site built mortgage. And as affordable housing continues to be a tremendous issue across the country, I have no doubt that more lenders will enter into the manufactured housing market.

*Please note that this data is approximate. For our purpose, as consumer marketers, we try to filter out any commercial/investor purchases, but it is possible that some of those purchases remain. This data is also self reported, and while we certainly trust the integrity of all lenders, there is always potential for human error.