Progress 09/01/03 to 11/30/05
Outputs
This research included three major components. The first component, the hedonic price analysis of manufactured and site-built homes, has been completed in the past year and is published in a peer-reviewed journal. The findings were summarized in last year's report. The second component, the analysis using 1980, 1990, and 2000 Census data, compared characteristics of the residents of site-built and manufactured homes in Georgia. The analyses were polished and preparation of a manuscript to be submitted to a peer reviewed journal is nearly complete. In summary, characteristics of residents of mobile and manufactured homes in Georgia have changed since 1980. Compared to comparable single-family site-built homes, mobile homes are becoming more common among Georgian households that are poor and larger in size, and householders who are African American, Hispanic, older, or have less than a high school education. Compared to comparable multifamily site-built homes, mobile
homes are becoming more common among larger Georgian households, African American householders, and older householders. Living in mobile homes is becoming less common among single-female-headed households. The last component involved an experiment using photographs of site-built and manufactured homes. The study was completed with a research grant provided by the University of Georgia's Institute of Gerontology ($2,000). A manuscript based on this experiment, titled _How proud would older persons be of living in manufactured housing? Assessing the pride of owned housing options among older individuals in Georgia,_ is currently under the review for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This study involved the use of photographs of both single-family site-built and manufactured houses to see if the knowledge that a certain house is manufactured would make older individuals feel less proud of living in such a house, compared to a single-family site-built house. Based on a total of 82
study participants, the findings of this pilot study suggest that, when told the structure type of each house, the participants were slightly less likely to choose a manufactured home as the house in which they would be the most proud to live. We also discussed the difficulty we faced in communicating the concept of 'pride' to the study participants.
Impacts
The impacts of the project include: 1) educating policymakers and community leaders about the changing faces of manufactured housing residents and 2) understanding that the knowledge that a house is manufactured would negatively affect consumers' potential pride to live in such a house.
Publications
- Sweaney, A.L., Vanderford, S.E. & Mimura, Y. & Carswell, A.T. (2005). An analysis of homeownership and type of dwelling by household composition [Abstract]. In Tremblay, K. R. Jr. & S.D. Kirby (Eds.). 2005 Annual Housing Education and Research Association Conference Proceedings. Pp. 87-89. Denver, CO. October, 2005.
- Vanderford, S.E., Mimura, Y. & Sweaney, A.L. (2005). A hedonic price comparison of manufactured and site-built homes in the non-MSA U.S., The Journal of Real Estate Research. 27(1). 83-104.
|
Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
This research includes three major components. The first component, which involved a hedonic price analysis of manufactured and site-built homes, has been completed. Data were obtained from the 2001 American Housing Survey (AHS). All manufactured homes and comparable site-built homes (owner-occupied; single-story; single-family, detached homes; without basements; sitting on 10 or fewer acres of owned land; and built in 1977 or later) located outside of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) were included in the sample. Two hedonic price regression models were used to determine the predictive power of construction type (manufactured vs. site-built) on home price. The first, which controlled for structural, neighborhood, and geographic characteristics found to relate to home prices in previous research, showed a significant difference between the prices of the two types of homes. Values of manufactured homes were found to be about one third of the values of comparable
site-built homes. The second model, which also included other variables through a stepwise regression, found that the type of construction had more predictive power than any other explanatory variable in the model. Based on the regression results, it seems that the price difference is not due to a quality difference. Therefore, manufactured homes can provide quality housing at a much lower price than site-built homes. Perhaps the price gap occurred because of the stigma that is often associated with manufactured housing. Given the negative stereotypes of manufactured homes, it seems likely that manufactured home residents would more frequently underestimate the values of their homes than would site-built home residents. A second component involved the analysis of Census data to compare characteristics of the residents of site-built and manufactured homes in Georgia. Preliminary results from this analysis were presented at the fall meeting of the Southern Demographics Association. An
article about this aspect of the research will be completed soon. The third component is just getting started. A grant has been secured (Sweaney, A.L. How Proud Would Elderly Individuals be of Living in Manufactured Housing? Assessing the Psychology of Owned Housing Options Among Georgia's Elderly. University of Georgia Gerontology Center. 12/1/04-11/30/05. $2,000) to help fund the data collection for this portion of the research. This study will incorporate the Solomon four-group factorial experimental design to measure the relative level of pride that elderly Georgians would have if they were to live in different types of homes. Participants will be asked to base their pride rankings on photographs of the homes, sales prices of the homes, and (for those receiving the treatment) descriptions of the homes as either single-family, site-built homes or manufactured homes. There are two goals of this study: 1) to measure the relative level of pride that elderly Georgians would have by
living in and owning manufactured housing, as compared to site-built, single-family housing and 2) to determine whether the relative level of pride is affected by knowing that a particular home is called a manufactured home.
Impacts
The impacts of the research include: 1) making consumers and policymakers aware that manufactured housing is not less expensive due to quality differences and, therefore, can be an acceptable form of affordable housing; 2) educating policymakers and community leaders about modern manufactured housing and its residents; and 3) providing a better understanding of what motivates people to feel different levels of pride in their housing.
Publications
- Sweaney, A.L., Eichenbrenner, S.A., & Mimura, Y. (2003). Investigating manufactured and site-built housing with a hedonic price model [Abstract]. Housing Education and Research Association Annual Conference 2003 Conference Papers. Available at http://www.housingeducators.org/Pastconferences/Conference2003/2003HE RAABSTRACTS.pdf
- Vanderford, S.E., Mimura, Y., & Sweaney, A.L. (in press 2004). A hedonic price comparison of manufactured and site-built homes in the non-MSA United States. Journal of Real Estate Research.
|
Progress 09/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
The work to date used hedonic price techniques to focus on a housing characteristic that has been studied infrequently: whether a home is site-built or manufactured. Two models were used to determine the predictive power of construction type on home price. The first hedonic price regression, which controlled for various factors thought to related to home prices based on the literature review, found a significant difference between the prices of the two types of homes. The second analysis, a stepwise regression, found that the type of construction has more predictive power than any other explanatory variable in the model. A grant proposal was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July 2003. The goal was to secure further support for the Agricultural Experimentation work. The proposal, which relates to trends, perceptions, and initiatives in manufactured housing is still pending.
Impacts
Find ways to improve the image of manufactured housing so that it can it can be an acceptable alternative for affordable housing. Find ways to educate policy makers and community leaders about the true product of manufactured housing available today.
Publications
- Sweaney, A.L, Atiles, J.H., Bachtel, D.C., Cude, B.J., Manley, K.S., Ragsdale, M., Rodgers, T., Shelton, G., Tinsley, K., & Valente, J.S. (2003). Workforce housing: An expanding market. In M. Syal (Ed.), Profit and opportunity beyond traditional building practices, pp. 23-35.
- Rivenbark, A. B. (2003). A hedonic price comparison of manufactured homes with site-built homes. Unpublished master's thesis, The University of Georgia.
- Sweaney, A. L., Mimura, Y, & Meeks, C. B. (2004, forthcoming). Changes in perceived housing quality among elderly movers: Does neighborhood and tenure matter: Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 18(2).
- Sweaney, A.L., Eichenbrenner, S. A., & Mimura, Y. (2003, June). Investigating manufactured and site built housing with a hedonic price model. Refereed paper presented by A. Sweaney at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences 2003 Annual Convention & Exposition Promoting Family Vitality jointly with the Housing Education and Research Association, Washington, DC.
|
|