Ingenia CEO Simon Owen and Colliers Shane Nicholson have just returned from touring eight states in the US learning about manufactured home estates. Some key facts they discovered:
• there are 44,000 MHEs in the US compared to 12,000 retirement villages
• 19.2 million people (6% of the US population) live-in MHEs
• in 2013 60,228 new manufactured homes were built (9% of all new homes in the US)
• the average sale price of a new manufactured home is $63,000
• 10,000 people turn 55 every day in the US
By comparison the top five MHE operators in Australia have approximately 70 locations. Australian MHEs generally cater to the 50+ market with a lifestyle bent, which is different to the US (see pie chart).
Ingenia caters to the affordable end of the market and sells its new homes for $265,000. Halcyon in QLD delivers a prestige product under the same general ACT with their top price being $1.2 million at Hope Island. Palm Lake Resorts built and sold 80 homes at Fern Bay outside Newcastle at around $350,000 since November.
