Florida is investing 15th least in manufactured housing
After over two years of elevated real estate prices, mortgage rates, and rents, the housing affordability crisis in the U.S. is more apparent than ever. Expanding manufactured housing—a category which includes housing units that are prefabricated in a factory, then transported to their ultimate destinations—is one possible solution.
Because these units tend to have simple designs and materials that make them efficient to produce, they are often significantly less expensive than site-built homes. A 2023 report found the average cost per square foot of a manufactured home was $87, roughly half of the $166 cost per square foot of a site-built home. For lower- and middle-income families, this more affordable option has significant appeal.
Currently, 21.2 million Americans live in manufactured homes, and manufactured homes represent around one out of every 10 new homes constructed in the U.S. each year. Manufactured housing varies in popularity across the country, however. Researchers calculated the total manufactured home shipments as a share of all new single-family homes in 2023 (the sum of manufactured home shipments and single-family housing units authorized by building permits), then ranked states accordingly.
These are the main takeaways from the report, highlighting some key stats for Florida:
• The average sale price of manufactured homes in 2023 was $124,300. For context, Zillow pegs the median home value in the United States at slightly over $362,000.
• Since 2014, the average sale price of a manufactured home has grown by 83.0%, while the average price across all homes climbed 94.6%. For both manufactured and site-built homes, most of this growth occurred in 2020 and 2021, before plateauing in 2022 amid rising interest rates.
• In Florida, the average sale price of manufactured homes was $142,100 in 2023, compared to the state’s $399,130 median across all homes.
• Overall, manufactured homes represented 5.5% of all new single-family homes authorized in Florida last year—the 15th smallest share of any U.S. state.
Below is a complete data breakout for Florida. The full results of the analysis include data on all 50 U.S. states.
