Durability is one of the strongest, but frequently the least understood, advantages of modern factory-built homes. A University of Georgia study found that HUD-code manufactured homes have life expectancies exceeding 50 years, comparable to site-built houses, when properly installed and maintained.
That important finding now sits alongside growing institutional research and policy shifts that reinforce the same conclusion. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have each published work showing improved perceptions of manufactured housing, expanded financing approaches, and concrete efforts to bring factory-built homes into mainstream housing programs. Freddie Mac’s research highlights growing consumer acceptance and improved product quality, while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increasingly incorporated manufactured housing into their Duty-to-Serve plans and financing pilots.
Federal action also supports the durability narrative. HUD’s recent code modernization and regulatory updates strengthen construction, safety, and installation standards, measures that increase long-term performance and resale value for HUD-code homes. Analyses tied to these rule changes project useful life ranges for manufactured homes in the multi-decade span (commonly 30–55 years, with many well-maintained homes exceeding that).
What does this mean for Arizona? With housing supply tight and affordability under stress, durable factory-built homes deliver a fast, cost-effective path to add long-term housing stock. Arizona dealers and community owners can point to the growing body of evidence, academic, GSE, and federal, that manufactured and modular homes are built to last, financeable in many cases, and increasingly accepted by an increasing number of consumers. Local adoption of ADUs and supportive zoning for factory-built housing, will let Arizona convert factory capacity into real home placements that remain in the housing stock for decades; even generations.
Durability is no longer an anecdote, it’s research-backed and policy-supported. For Arizona stakeholders trying to close the housing shortfall, factory-built homes offer a proven, resilient, and financeable option that deserves a central role in planning and development conversations.