MH FINANCING: Freddie Mac “Making Good on Our Duty to Serve” Manufactured Home Buyers

The following contains excerpts from A Freddie Mac generated post: Single-Family / August 21, 2023 

Freddie Mac’s Duty to Serve Plan is our road map for identifying challenges in undeserved markets and finding opportunities to Make Home Possible for low-to middle-income home buyers and renters. This work centers on three traditional undeserved markets; rural housing, manufactured housing and affordable housing preservation.

Since the plan’s first release in 2018,our Single- Family and Multifamily divisions have worked to serve those communities across the country.

Manufactured Housing

Manufactured  housing represents a critical source of affordable housing. According to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), more than 21 million people live in approximately 8.2 million manufactured and “mobile homes” across the country. 

Costing about 50% less than traditional site-built homes, manufactured homes provide a more affordable option for many families. As part of Duty to Serve, we introduced our ChoiceHome product, which offers conventional financing for manufactured homes. We’ve already provided more than $5.4 billion to finance 40,000 manufactured homes. These homes  have many of the features and aesthetics of site-built homes and their appeal is inspiring municipalities to embrace manufactured housing as an affordable solution to growing demand.

For example, in Hagerstown, Maryland, Kilpatrick Woods is a new development of homes eligible for Freddie Mac financing that offers many of the same amenities as stick-built homes and is integrated into the surrounding neighborhoods. It can serve as a model for the future.

Manufactured Home Communities

Many residents of manufactured homes own their home but rent the land on which it sets. More than 43% of these homes are in manufactured home communities (MHCs), so providing liquidity to these communities is an important way to support manufactured housing.

In 2022, Freddie Mac Multifamily used its MHCLoan agreements to extend tenant protections to approximately 20,000 residents of these communities. Freddie Mac also continues to offer financing to MHCs where the residents themselves own the community, supporting this unique tenant led management structure.

The Work Goes On

WE know there is much more work to be done in undeserved areas and we are committed to doing it. That commitment is more than just words on the page–it’s a central part of our mission to Make Home Possible for buyers and renters in all communities in any economic climate. In close partnership with our industry partners, we are building on our progress to find new products and strategies to do so – even in today’s challenging market environment.