LAUREL —
Manufactured home dealers across the state are crossing their fingers for better sales in 2011.
The housing market has yet to fully recover from its fall several years ago. However, some dealers such as Southern Colonel Homes of Laurel and Clayton Homes in Hattiesburg are seeing better numbers this year.
In fact, Clayton Homes, which is headquartered in Maryville, Tenn., is boasting a 22 percent increase in sales company wide so far this year.
Fred Townsend, vice president of Clayton Homes, said those numbers are even better in the Hattiesburg and Meridian markets, which serve Laurel.
“Our sales in our Hattiesburg market are up by 16 sales, or a 72.7 percent sales increase over the previous year,” Townsend said, adding that Meridian has posted sales gains of 26 percent.
Townsend said the recent federal income tax credit to purchase a new home is partially responsible for the sales increase.
“2009 was such a bad year for the housing market,” he said. “There was a lot of pent-up demand for affordable housing. We’re the beneficiary of that.”
Townsend said the average multi-section or modular home sold by Clayton is in the $65,000 to $70,000 range, significantly less than the average site built home.
Townsend said Clayton Homes operates 12 model home centers in Mississippi, three of which serve Laurel, and an additional 400 retail home centers across the United States. The company is owned by Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway.
As for what the future holds, Townsend said he feels “very positive” that 2011 will be a turnaround year for the housing market.
“It’s not a gut feeling,” he said. “There’s historical data, demand issues and demographic issues on our side. A lot of people are sitting on the sidelines right now, waiting to see what’s going to happen. All of us feel strongly that 2011 will be a real turnaround year for housing and for us in particular.”
While many companies are adopting the “green” trend,” Townsend said Clayton Homes has built environmentally friendly for several years.
“We never got any credit for it or tooted our horn about it because it didn’t capture people’s imaginations very much,” he said. “There’s so much less waste because of the way we build.”
Townsend said the company has geared more towards environmentally friendly products with all its factories certified as Energy Star.
“Customers in many areas get significant tax benefits or credits for buying Energy Star efficient houses,” he said. “You never really take that into consideration when buying a house. But, if you can reduce what you’re paying for power every month by 25 to 35 percent, that leaves a lot more discretionary income and makes it a lot more affordable.”
Danny Smith, owner of Southern Colonel Homes in Laurel, said he’s also seen an increase if business this year.
“Last year was one of the worst years we’ve ever had,” he said. “We sold 112 homes, which was the best in the state, but it’s still far from where it should be.”
Smith, who has operated the business for four years, said he expects 2011 to also be tough due to difficulty in financing.
“Manufacturing housing is better than it’s ever been,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who want to buy them, but they can’t get approved for the money. Banks have really tightened up.”
Smith noted that energy efficient homes have also improved greatly with energy efficiency and construction.
For more information on manufactured homes, visit www.msmmha.com.
Business
Manufactured home dealers seeing sales boost
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