Wednesday March 1, 2006 is Industry Day at the Oregon Manufactured Home Show in Salem, Oregon.  A near-record number of new manufactured homes will be featured this year.  TWENTY ONE HOMES (55 “floors”!) will be on display with many featuring never-before seen designs and amenities.  I have been told by several manufacturers that the industry and the public will be surprised and impressed by this years selection of homes. Numerous industry vendors will also have an exhibitor’s booth during Industry Day, sharing with attendees the latest in services and equipment available to industry participants.  The show is open to the public Thursday March 2nd to Sunday March 5th. 

In a recent email from Don Miner, Executive Director of the Oregon Manufactured Housing Association, he said: “Show Chairman Mark Irving announced that the Committee will buy about $92,000 worth of TV and print media.  Most of the advertising will be concentrated in a 10-day period, surrounding the Show.  It will reach up and down the I-5 corridor, from SW Washington and deep into Northern California. Potential home buyers living in the Columbia Gorge, Coastal communities and in Central Oregon will also see the advertising. Special emphasis is directed to small towns and rural communities where demand for manufactured homes remains strong.  The Show advertising is timed to extend the 4-week NW Pride media campaign, which runs from February 6 and ends on March 5. The synergy of these two media campaigns will create strong and lasting interest in manufactured homes throughout Oregon.”
 
TRIAD FINANCIAL SERVICES CEO Don Glisson Jr. is excited to have Triad enter the Pacific Northwest marketplace.  Speaking at Commonwealth’s January 18th Industry Summit Don showed great enthusiasm when talking about the potential for success in Oregon, Washington and Idaho and has hired veteran Kathy Blalack as Triad’s regional account manager.  Kathy can be reached at 503-508-0996.  Triad joins CU Factory Built Lending, Green Tree Servicing, Origen Financial, 21st Mortgage Corporation and US Bank as providers of chattel financing for manufactured homes in land-lease communities and on real property.
 
Hometown America and Green Courte Partners are among the big-guns looking to purchase manufactured home communities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.  Barry McCabe, President of Hometown America and Keynote Speaker at our 2006 Summit reiterated his companies’ interest in acquiring properties in our area.  David Lentz of Green Courte Partners has also been contacting community owners to express their interest in expanding their holdings to include manufactured home communities throughout the West. 
 
Manufactured home communities being purchased by homebuilders as a source of land for stick-built homes continues to a subject of much interest in Oregon, and somewhat in Washington too.  Washington, which has had a fund designed to help residents relocate their home in the wake of a closure has seen the fund balance plummet from $330,000 just 60 days ago to less than $5,000 as of last week.  The Oregon landlord-tenant coalition is tackling the issue of relocation costs at its monthly meetings, the next slated for tomorrow in Salem, Oregon.  On January 30th a group of 35 city, state and municipal agency representatives along with people from a wide range of non-profit and housing aid groups and manufactured home industry executives gathered in downtown Portland for a half-day meeting to discuss “Manufactured Housing Park Closure/Purchase Group” issues, including the various ways residents can purchase the manufactured home community they live in.  The group discussed the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund model, the role of the Oregon Housing and Community Services agency, legislative solutions and how land use and demand for land is fueling this phenomenon in some areas.  The group will meet again in the near future.
 
Oregon, Washington and Idaho ended 2005 on a positive note.  Year-to-date new home shipments were up +5.5% in Idaho, +5.3% in Oregon and +1.7% in Washington (through November 2005), the first time in ages when all three states showed a positive increase.  Production is up even more, with many factories staying busy with orders from the bustling Northern California market.  Everyone we talk to seems to feel that business has leveled off and we may experience a slight increase in home sales again in 2006.  While some are nervous that the stick-built housing industry will continue to steal our market share with creative financing and aggressive marketing, we still offer the only true affordable housing alternative left for most home buyers.  As stick-built housing prices continue to soar our product looks more affordable every day.  Look for new home manufacturers to continue innovative new ways to attract home buyers and expect new products to emerge that will fit comfortably on smaller lots.
 
With Clayton/Oakwood’s recent purchase of Fleetwood Retail Corp’s Fleetwood Home Center stores (re-named Freedom Homes) you can look for more closures and consolidation of retail sales centers.  Several have already occurred, including Portland, Oregon and Puyallup, Washington as the duplication of Fleetwood and Oakwood stores doesn’t make operational sense.  Fleetwood Homes is now actively pursuing distribution opportunities through independent retailers and developers, while Clayton continues to surprise everyone with their acquisitions.  Strangely, this hasn’t seriously damaged the independent manufacturers.  Frankly, several are experiencing stronger demand for their product than they’ve seen in years, as the resurgence of the independent retailer takes hold in a few key areas.  In the Pacific Northwest Clayton now owns Oakwood Homes, Golden West Homes, Marlette and Karsten, along with the various retail locations.  Champion, Fleetwood, Skyline, Fuqua and Homebuilders Northwest dominate the independent scene and Palm Harbor stays the course with steady manufacturing and retailing.  What’s next?  Stay tuned. 
 
Two of the industry’s major producers recently announced positive financial results, due in part to orders for travel trailers and manufactured homes from FEMA to assist in the Gulf Coast housing shortage.  A third will be releasing financial results on February 10th.  Click here to read excerpts from www.thestreet.com ---
 
Gub Mix touched on how some of the publicity we’ve received regarding the FEMA orders resulted in negative PR for us.  In his column “From My Soapbox” he talks about how Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) sent a letter to his house colleagues requesting that they urge the White House to “reconsider the acquisition of 300,000 emergency trailer homes” because these homes would have “potentially harmful results and unintended consequences for the families that occupy them.”  President Bush mentioned that mobile homes (not manufactured homes) would be part of the government’s solution in providing immediate temporary housing to displaced hurricane victims and there have been several inaccurate news reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post portraying the FEMA purchases as possibility creating “trailer ghettos” in affected areas.  Boy, we just can’t win sometimes, can we?
 
Don’t forget to attend the National Congress & Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing April 18-20 in Las Vegas.  I have attended every Congress since 1992 and they are worth all the effort and expense it takes to participate.  Great speakers --- interesting workshops --- the ultimate networking opportunity.  Go to www.manufacturedhousing.org for information and registration.

Greg Harmon - President
Commonwealth Real Estate Services
E-mail: greg@cwres.com
Telephone 503.244.2300 Ext. 101