AFR adds new loans for singlewides as manufactured home options grow

American Financial Resources on Tuesday announced it added conventional financing for a particularly small and affordable type of manufactured home that could be used to help address inventory shortages in the market.

AFR is offering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that finance singlewide units. These have an average sales price of $57,000 compared to $110,000 for larger double- or multi-wide manufactured homes, or more than $300,000 for traditional homes.

As one of the few mortgage firms that finances singlewides, AFR’s decision to offer the product will lend momentum to major government-sponsored loan buyers’ efforts to expand their manufactured housing programs.

“AFR has been financing manufactured homes for more than 10 years, so we are experienced in this growing segment of the housing market,” says Bill Packer, executive vice president and chief operations officer, American Financial Resources, Inc. “With our growing portfolio of loan options for manufactured homes of all sizes, including singlewides, we can help our partners bring more families home.”

The homes are cost effective to buy and manufacture because they can be as small as 400-500 square feet and delivered as a single structure.

Singlewides haven’t been immune to the broader upward pressure on home prices, but their prices haven’t run up quite as quickly or consistently as other segments of the market, U.S. Census statistics show.

In addition to the new conventional products, AFR’s manufactured housing product line includes government financing for singlewides, and also several types of financing for larger homes.