Factory and Site-Built Housing: A Comparative Analysis

New homes in the United States are produced in a variety of different ways. Conventional site-built construction has historically predominated, but factory built homes, especially "manufactured homes" built under the preemptive Federal "HUD code," also play a very important role. This report, for the first time, provides a comprehensive comparison of HUD-code manufactured housing, conventional site-built homes and factory-built modular homes along several important dimensions. The comparisons address industry structure, production cost, characteristics of occupants and purchasers, unit designs and construction materials, regulatory processes, code requirements, and buyer costs.