Texas Manufactured Housing Survey (TMHS) Charts Confident Path Forward
COLLEGE STATION – The August 2025 Texas Manufactured Housing Survey (TMHS) showed rising company outlooks and improving general business activity, even as current production edged lower and staffing was largely unchanged.
(The following contains highlights from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center)
Manufacturers reported firmer selling conditions – including prices received and floors sold per day – and stepped up capital investment, while regulatory burden increased ahead of the mid-September HUD Code implementation.
Orders stabilized in August after declining in July, and backlogs are growing despite this month’s shrinkage. Respondents also raised out-of-state demand expectations, signaling potential strength in interstate shipments.
When comparing current conditions versus sentiment, the survey showed higher expectations for future orders, production, staffing levels, and capex, even as supply-chain disruptions showed early signs of re-emerging.
“The bump in supply disruptions, mostly about retooling for the Sept. 15 HUD Code update,” said Rob Ripperda, Vice-President of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA). “When you’re producing roughly 100 homes each business day across 27 Texas plants, a synchronized shift in source components is a heavy inventory management lift for both the manufactured housing builders and their suppliers.”
Looking ahead six months, large gains were posted for prices expected to be paid for raw materials and prices to be received for finished homes.
Expectations were also higher for the number of employees that will be needed, the level of general business activity, and overall company outlook.
“Manufacturers seem to be rolling with the punches when it comes to increasing economic concerns about inflation and unemployment,” said Harold Hunt, PHD., research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) at Texas A&M University. “Let’s hope their optimism about the future translates into reality.”
