Manufactured Home Prices and Resale Data: How to Read New-Home Averages and Value Indexes
Manufactured-home price data can help you understand broad market context, but no national series tells you what a particular home is worth or what a complete installed project will cost. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey reports average prices for new homes by region and size. The Federal Housing Finance Agency publishes developmental price indexes based on a different set of real-property mortgage transactions. A dealer quote, an installed-home budget, a local resale comparison, and an appraisal answer different questions.
Use each source for the question it measures, then get property-specific information for the decision you are making. A national average is not a bid. An index is not an appraisal. A new-home price is not automatically comparable to a used home, a home on leased land, or a home-and-land transaction.
What the Census average price measures
The Census MHS latest-data page lists the average sales-price table by region and home size. As of September 2026, the table covers 2014–2026. Census describes its methodology as asking dealers about homes shipped four months earlier: the dealer reports a sales price if the home has been sold and placed for residential use, or an intended sales price if it remains intended for residential use. The estimate therefore includes both actual and intended prices.
This is a series about new manufactured homes, not the price of every factory-built category. It does not describe the resale market for used homes, a specific dealer’s inventory, or an individual property’s condition. It does not give a quote for the full installed project. Land, site preparation, foundation, delivery, utilities, crane or setting, finishing, permits, and fees must be checked separately in the contract and project budget.
Census changed its monthly survey process in August 2014; data before that point are not comparable with the current series. The survey also added leased-unit and placement-status questions in 2021. When comparing years, confirm that the table uses the same series and look at the footnotes and the reference month. The newest posted month may lag the current calendar date because the survey is collected and released on a schedule.
Compare like with like
When using the Census table, match the region, home size, and month or year as closely as possible. A single-section price is not a substitute for a multi-section home. A national average can change because the mix of sizes or regions changed, even when no particular model’s price changed. Use the table’s categories and sample context rather than averaging rows that describe different products.
Avoid dividing a new-home average by floor area and treating the result as a comparable construction rate. The home sizes, included features, site conditions, and contract scopes may differ, and a price per square foot does not add land, delivery, foundation, or site costs. If you use a calculation for rough context, show its inputs and state clearly what is outside it.
The average is also not a prediction of appreciation. It does not show whether a specific model, location, land arrangement, age, title, maintenance history, or community will gain or lose value. For a purchase, ask the dealer for the full contract and a separate cost-to-occupancy schedule. For a resale, ask a local appraiser or qualified real-estate professional what comparable properties and adjustments are appropriate.
What an FHFA manufactured-home index measures
FHFA publishes manufactured-home purchase-only and all-transactions indexes in its HPI datasets. The manufactured-home indexes are developmental and use real-property manufactured-home mortgage data acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The technical note says personal-property loans are removed; cash sales and loans outside the Enterprises’ acquisition channels are not represented. The national index pools transactions because there is not enough data to form stable state-specific manufactured-home indexes.
A purchase-only index reflects price changes in repeat purchase transactions within that dataset. The all-transactions index uses sales prices and appraised values connected with refinance transactions. These are measures of change in a defined financing sample, not a published dollar value for every home. They do not cover the home-only chattel market, and they should not be used to infer the value of a home on leased land from the real-property series.
FHFA describes the manufactured-home indexes as developmental and not seasonally adjusted. A national trend can reflect changes in the locations or types of transactions in the sample as well as underlying prices. Read the current technical note and data coverage before comparing periods. Do not treat the index as a forecast, a local resale quote, or an appraisal of a home you own.
Do not combine unlike comparisons
A manufactured home may be sold as a home alone, with land, or as part of an installed property. A site-built comparison might include land and different property features, while a new manufactured-home survey price describes a new unit’s sales context. Comparing the two as if they had the same land, finish, size, condition, financing, and installation scope can produce a misleading “discount.” A 2024 Census comparison of new manufactured homes with new site-built homes is a dated study with its own definitions; it does not establish today’s installed cost or a resale premium.
Likewise, an FHFA real-property index should not be combined with a new-home dealer average to create a long time series. The datasets observe different homes, transactions, financing, and time periods. If you want to compare two actual options, price both to the same endpoint: home on land, site ready, utilities connected, approved, and available for occupancy. If you want to compare resale options, match location, age, section count, land interest, title, condition, and recent sale date.
Build a project price from the contract outward
For a new home, request separate prices for the unit, options, delivery, route permits, site preparation, survey or soil work, foundation, supports and anchors, crane or setting, section close-up, utilities, inspections, stairs, skirting, finish work, taxes, and restoration. Ask whether each amount is a firm bid or an allowance and what condition could change it. A low home-only number can still lead to a higher completed project total.
For a used home, add inspection, repairs, move or setup costs where relevant, title or record work, and any lot rent or site charges. For a home on leased land, include the cost of the site as a continuing expense and verify the lease. Financing type and land ownership can change both monthly housing costs and which resale comparisons are relevant.
Keep U.S. and Canadian costs separate. Census and FHFA price series discussed here are U.S. data. They do not provide Canadian price levels or Canadian resale trends. For a Canadian purchase, use current local contracts and comparable sales, and confirm the provincial title and certification context.
A practical three-source comparison
For a purchase, use three records together:
- Market context: the latest Census table or a relevant local dataset, with date, region, size, and limitations stated.
- Property-specific evidence: inspection, home and land title, condition, location, records, and comparable transactions selected by a qualified local professional.
- Complete project cost: dealer or seller price plus delivery, setup, repairs, utility and permit work, financing, insurance, tax, and site obligations.
If the numbers disagree, do not automatically choose the largest or average them. Check whether the difference is due to land, size, condition, location, financing sample, or omitted work. Ask the dealer, appraiser, lender, or contractor to identify its assumptions. Keep the question being answered in view: purchase budget, loan collateral, replacement cost, or likely resale proceeds.
Keep a dated source record
Save the data release date, selected table, category, and values you used. Census and FHFA update their data on separate schedules. A price reported without its month, measure, and scope can become stale or be repeated as if it were a durable national fact. Recheck the table before a major purchase and do not use yesterday’s average to negotiate a property whose condition or title has not been assessed.
The best use of market data is to frame a question and test whether a quote deserves closer review. It cannot price the site, establish fair market value for one home, or guarantee future resale. Combine current official statistics with local professional evidence and a complete project scope before making a decision.
Read the release date and revision before quoting a figure
Census posts the current Manufactured Housing Survey tables monthly and identifies the statistical period. The webpage may be labeled with its posting month while the latest price row refers to an earlier survey month. Record both dates when you copy a value. If a workbook includes separate columns for total, single-section, double-section, or region, copy the exact line rather than only the headline. If a table changes or is revised, keep the previous release date in your notes so later comparisons can be reproduced.
FHFA publishes on a different release schedule. The dataset page marks manufactured-home indexes as developmental and not seasonally adjusted. A new quarter in the FHFA file is not a new Census dealer price observation. Keep the source, release date, index type, and sample description beside every chart or calculation. This prevents two valid but unlike statistics from appearing as one continuous market series.
Ask a specific question of each statistic
The Census average can answer: “How did reported new manufactured-home prices by size and region move in the current MHS series?” It cannot answer: “What should I pay for a used two-section home on this leased site?” The FHFA index can answer: “How did prices change among qualifying real-property mortgage transactions in its sample?” It cannot answer: “What is the cash resale value of this home-only unit?” Choosing the question first makes it easier to decide whether the series is relevant.
For a particular purchase, a qualified appraiser may select local comparable sales and adjust for size, age, condition, land, site improvements, and financing. The appraiser’s scope and intended use matter too. A lender appraisal can be prepared for collateral assessment; it is not necessarily a retail replacement estimate or a prediction of the owner’s sale proceeds. Ask what the report covers and which data are excluded.
Keep market trend separate from replacement cost
Insurance replacement cost asks what it would cost under the policy to repair or replace covered property with materials of a defined kind and quality, subject to limits and terms. A price index measures transaction price movement in its sample. A dealer average describes new-home prices. None of these automatically equals the insured replacement limit. Ask the insurer how it calculates the limit and whether land, delivery, site work, decks, utilities, and other structures are insured separately.
Likewise, the cost to move a home is not its resale value. A transporter may quote route, permits, and handling, while a destination installer prices site completion. If the home has to be removed from a leased lot, the value in place can differ from its value after moving. Compare the net amount the owner could receive after loan payoff, commissions, repairs, title work, and moving obligations rather than relying on a general index.