By Debora Flora
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The road to homeownership is steep for those searching for affordable options.
The average age of first-time homebuyers is now a record-breaking 40 years old, compared to 29 in 1985. That is unfortunate and unsurprising, considering events of the last 25 years. Housing prices rose during the construction boom from 2000 to 2005. Subprime mortgage defaults, higher foreclosure rates, housing prices declines and construction retraction led to the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009. Market confidence and housing prices climbed steadily through the following decade. The post-pandemic years, with fluctuating interest rates, high demand and limited housing supply, drove prices up to jaw-dropping levels.
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act became federal law in July, with strong bipartisan support in Congress. Within it are new programs to increase housing supply, reduce construction costs and shorten construction and review processes. Some programs already have funding; more await congressional action.
The act envisions more housing construction types – notably, modular and manufactured – to boost the affordable housing inventory.
Manufactured and modular houses are distinctly different. Since 1974, the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act required manufactured homes to have a steel chassis, or undercarriage, that did not have to be permanently fixed on site.
The new law makes the chassis optional, which will reduce production costs by as much as $10,000 per unit, according to a U.S. Senate fact sheet. Also, manufactured houses can be reclassified as real property, which would make them eligible for Federal Housing Administration (FHA), conventional and Veterans Administration mortgages. Previously, manufactured homes were classified as personal property, with special financing programs and interest rates that exceeded other home loans.
Local governments may still restrict where manufactured houses are placed. If manufactured home builders create products that resemble stick-built homes, hold their value and create more competition among lenders, proponents believe it will be difficult to exclude them as a viable, affordable housing option.
Modular homes are built in sections in factories, taken to construction sites and fully joined on permanent foundations. Under new law, modular housing will carry a formal designation, and that will lead to exploration of flexible financing products. Modular could become the basis of a new type of starter house, asserts the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization that guides public policy and supports equity goals.
Natalie Bouyett, director of the Macon Bibb County Affordable Housing Fund in Macon, Ga., is working with a modular developer for the first time. Modular construction projects can be completed more quickly than traditional builds, she noted, and “energy efficiency is embedded” in them. The question is whether her organization will see an estimated 10% savings in construction costs. Modular housing lacks economies of scale. “This is an opportunity for it to show itself,” she said Sept. 25 during the Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference in Pittsburgh.
Concerning modular housing durability, “the quality of some parts is higher” than required, said Everett Verner, executive director of the Macon Bibb County Land Bank Authority and Bouyett’s collaborator. “There is more reinforcement of joints and seams” where panels connect, he explained. If modular construction ultimately isn’t more cost efficient, then Macon will still gain another developer at a time of critical need, he added.
Modular houses are the same as traditional houses under the Ohio Residential Building Code on structural elements, electrical and plumbing systems and fire safety. State code permits modular homes in most residential zones, but zoning ordinances vary by county, city and township. Congress will issue guidelines on zoning reform to speed up development.
Zoning functions in part to preserve neighborhood character and property values, said Mike Kurilla, a longtime zoning administrator in Mahoning County. Tension sometimes exists between land development goals and zoning regulations. “It will be interesting to see how much the feds and state want to reach down into the regulatory schemes of local government,” said Kurilla, formerly of Austintown Township and now serving Milton and Coitsville townships.
Manufactured housing permits in Mahoning County have declined from 2021 (22) to 2025 (11), according to the Central Electric Inspection Bureau in Youngstown, which issues the permits. Modular, which largely exists locally as infill housing, lacks economies of scale in our region, too. Will the act increase the profiles of these housing models?
Trisha Howe, executive officer of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of the Valley in Boardman, says developers should expand their product lines. “We are hopeful that the legislation will help to increase quality, affordable housing in our area and spur local economic development,” she said.
This area can be a proving ground, Howe stressed: “Everyone talks about affordability. We live in one of the most affordable places in the U.S. This is more of a shortage problem.” Affordable housing seekers are banking on that.
