While mobile homes are traditionally less expensive than site-built single-family housing, new data from LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) has determined the prices of mobile housing has spiked higher.
The average sales price of new mobile homes sold in the U.S. rose by 77.1% between 2017 and 2022, whereas the average sales price of new site-built, single-family homes rose by 46.7% over the same period. LendingTree noted the new mobile homes cost $127,300, on average, whereas site-built single-family homes cost an average of $430,808.
New mobile homes sell for the most money, on average, in Idaho, Montana and Arizona – the average sales price in these states is $168,500, $160,600 and $160,500, respectively. However, mobile home prices have increased the most in Wyoming, Illinois, Kentucky and Mississippi –between 2017 and 2022, the average sales price in those states jumped by 127.6%, 110.1%, 107.3% and 103.7%, respectively.
The average sales price of new mobile homes fell in only one state between 2017 and 2022 – a 5% decline in Massachusetts, where the average sales price of new mobile homes there is still among the highest in the nation, at $138,500.
“In many ways, the rapidly rising costs of mobile homes in most states is a cause for concern,” said LendingTree’s Senior Economist Jacob Channel. “After all, as prices rise, mobile homes become more and more unaffordable for the people most likely to seek them out. That said, mobile homes typically remain considerably cheaper than their single-family counterparts.”