Mass Production of Factory Built Homes from 1955 to 1973 was an Unparalleled Success, Could it Happen Again?

We show that the first and only experiment of the U.S. mass production of houses in a factory-built home industry that became known as the Mobile Home industry (and today, as the Manufactured Home industry), was a tremendous success. Mobile home prices fell by two thirds from 1955 to 1973, as productivity soared; home quality rose significantly, with Mobile Home building codes receiving ANSI certification in 1963 and National Fire Protection Association co-sponsorship in 1965; as production soared, Mobile Homes accounted for one-third of single-family homes produced in the early 1970s.

These feats were achieved as industry leaders developed state-wide building codes for Mobile Homes. This dramatically increased the size of the market for them. Factories invested in specialized machinery to produce simple and standardized products, substituting machinery for labor. Given each factory produced under the same code, the industry-induced productivity gains followed, including external effects and directed issues in today’s residential construction industry, which is considered a puzzle. But this poor performance is not new. Our analysis strongly supports this view – for their time and ours. It also supports their view – for their time and ours. It also supports their view, like that of Levitt & Sons, that the population and our underprivileged production is the only way “to produce the homes and apartments needed to house our expanding population and our underprivileged citizens in a comfortable, dignified, decent way.” (U.S. Senate 1969)

Source: Excerpts from a staff report of the Federal Reserve Authors