March 7, 2024
Did you know that some 20 million Americans live in manufactured housing? Most government-backed mortgage programs offer loans to these borrowers.
That includes FHA home loans for manufactured housing, modular houses, and mobile homes.
There’s a separate FHA loan for these homes like there are separate FHA condo loans and construction mortgages.
The FHA and HUD are working to expand manufactured housing options through the FHA Single-Family Home Loan Program and are offering new options to organizations responsible for multi-family housing.
HUD To Increase Availability Of Affordable Manufactured Homes
WhiteHouse.gov issued a press release on the federal government’s efforts in 2024, noting, “Manufactured housing is a critical source of affordable housing, especially for low-income, rural, and Native American households and offers a potentially lower-cost pathway to homeownership.”
Manufactured housing, also known colloquially as mobile homes, are said to be among the largest pool of affordable housing in the country” and the federal government wants to help Americans to buy and own manufactured homes.
FHA Grants And Higher FHA Loan Limits
HUD now offers competitive grants for those involved with multi-family manufactured housing efforts, which is promising, but does not address the buyer looking for a single family home.
For those FHA loan applicants there is help from a new HUD final rule increasing FHA manufactured housing loan limits.
According to the Federal Register, the agency wants to adjust FHA manufactured home loan limits annually based on changes to indexes for the average price of single-section and double-section manufactured homes, respectively.”
Breaking out the pricing into single and double options may help some borrowers better use their home loan options.
HUD improvements in this area include setting the manufactured home loan limits “at the average price data for the most recent 12 months available at the time HUD calculates the adjustment, weighted according to the number of manufactured units shipped during that same period.”
FHA Manufactured Home Loans Modernized
The White House official site states that the changes to FHA manufactured loan limits bring the program closer to current market prices.
As a result, the FHA and HUD will have an easier time updating these limits each year.
Have you applied for an FHA loan for a manufactured home? If you are unsure how these rule changes affect your purchase, talk to your FHA loan officer about what applies to your loan.
If your FHA case number was issued prior to the effective date of the new rules, chances are good your FHA loan limits will be the amount effective at the time the case number was issued.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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