06/22/2026
The US Needs More Starter Homes. Factory-Built Construction Can Fill the Gap:
The availability of homes affordable to the typical first-time homebuyer (units that we think of as “starter homes”) has dwindled considerably in the past decade. Although 39 percent of active listings were priced under $200,000 in 2016, only 13 percent were priced as such in 2025.
Nationwide, building smaller, less expensive homes has become unprofitable due to the rising costs of construction, financing, and zoning policies. In the face of these issues, increasing the supply of starter homes will require new ideas. One common-sense solution is expanding the growing market of factory-built homes.
See full article written by Laurie Goodman, Aniket Mehrotra:
Expanding the growing market of factory-built homes—which are more efficient than other homes in terms of labor, materials, and time—could catalyze the start…