Survey Says: Younger Adults See Manufactured Housing as Good Investment Potential

The majority of Gen Z adults and millennials are interested in housing options such as “mobile homes” and manufactured homes.

As part of its Housing Supply Action Plan, the Biden Administration earlier this year announced programs aimed at making the financing and development of manufactured homes easier. A recent Morning Consult survey finds that about half of Americans see alternative housing, such as “mobile homes,” as a good investment, with younger generations more likely to be interested in these types of homes.

Editor’s Note: The questions posed by the following survey inquiries often conflate manufactured homes and “mobile homes,” which are not one in the same. There have been zero “mobile homes” produced since the implementation of the HUD Code in 1976. The results of the survey most likely would have garnered higher positive results if those surveyed were responding singularly to manufactured homes.

It is also interesting to note that in a Manufactured Housing Institute survey of manufactured home owners that 65% refer to their dwelling as a “mobile home.”

Nevertheless, the following questions and inquiry results are positive reactions to America’s high quality affordable manufactured housing:

Roughly Half the Public Views Manufactured Housing as a Good Investment

Respondents were asked if they believe that buying a mobile home, backyard flat, or other manufactured housing unit is generally a good long-term investment.

                         Agree        Don’t know/No opinion       Disagree   

All adults          –    49%            –     16%                  –    35%

Gen Z              –     60%            –     15%                  –    25%

Millennials        –      61%              –     12%              –     27%

Gen X              –      45%             –    20%                 –     35%

Baby Boomers –      38%             –    16%                 –     45%

Perceptions about the quality of life in mobile home parks may still drive opinions of manufactured housing, as 45% of those surveyed said these homes are not a good long-term investment.

About 3 in 5 Genz, Millennial Adults Are Interested in Buying Manufactured Housing

Respondents were asked how interested they would be in purchasing a mobile home, backyard flat, or other manufactured housing in the future.

The following are the Gen Z and Millenial survey responses.

                  Very interested              Somewhat interested

 Gen Z             18%                             45%

Millennials      28%                            61%

Other revelations from the Morning Consult survey are:

Younger generations, non-white potential homeowners show a higher interest in manufactured homes

• When it comes to considering the purchase of a mobile home, backyard flat, or other manufactured housing unit, boomers are least taken with the idea, with 10% saying they are very interested and 19% saying they are somewhat interested.
• Hispanic (25%) and Black adults (19%) are the racial groups most likely to say they are “very interested” in purchasing a backyard flat or manufactured housing, followed by white adults (17%) and other races/ethnicities (16%).
• From a regional perspective, Americans in the west (21%) and South (18%) are most likely to be “very interested” in these types of housing, ahead of those in the Midwest (15%) and Northeast (13%).