Manufactured housing communities (MHCs) are one of the most overlooked corners of US real estate, and that is exactly what makes them attractive. They sit at the intersection of two demographic forces that are not slowing down: a deepening shortage of affordable housing in growth markets, and an aging, stability-seeking tenant base. The result is an asset class with constrained supply, durable demand, and cash flow that holds up across cycles.

The Supply Story: A Fixed Pie

Roughly 43,000 manufactured housing communities exist across the United States, and almost none get built. Local zoning treats new parks as a non-starter, and community opposition does the rest. Unlike multifamily or industrial, where supply responds to demand, MHC inventory is effectively fixed. Every park that sells is one fewer available, which puts structural upward pressure on the value of the parks that already exist.

That scarcity is compounding. As covered in the look at rising manufactured home costs, tariffs have pushed the cost of placing a new home up roughly 30% since 2024, making new supply even harder to justify and putting a higher floor under existing communities.

The Demand Story: Sticky Tenants, Steady Rent

Tenant turnover in a stabilized park is dramatically lower than in multifamily. The home itself belongs to the resident; the operator owns and rents the pad beneath it. Moving a manufactured home off its pad costs $5,000 to $15,000 and is genuinely rare, which produces multi-year tenancies and minimal collections risk.

National MHC occupancy sits above 95%, and demand keeps building as housing affordability erodes. Manufactured homes remain one of the only forms of unsubsidized affordable housing in the country, and the residents who choose them tend to stay. For an owner, that translates into predictable lot-rent income and low expense ratios, because tenants maintain their own homes.

Why the Cash Flow Holds Up in a Downturn

Recession resistance is not a marketing line in this asset class, it is a function of the structure. Lot rents are a small share of a resident's total housing cost, so there is room to absorb modest increases without pushing tenants out. The high cost of moving a home keeps residents in place even when budgets tighten. And because the operator is not exposed to the maintenance and turnover costs of the homes themselves, margins stay steadier than most property types when expenses spike.

Institutional capital has noticed. As detailed in the coverage of institutional capital entering MHC, private equity and institutional investors have committed more than $1 billion to dedicated manufactured housing vehicles in recent years. That interest is a double-edged sword: it validates the thesis, but it also compresses cap rates on stabilized, institutional-quality parks.

How Requity Underwrites MHC

The opportunity for disciplined operators is in the parks institutions overlook, typically in the 30 to 150 pad range, where there is real operational upside. Requity Investments underwrites to a consistent set of standards:

  • In-place rents benchmarked within roughly $50 of the metro market median, so there is room to grow without outrunning affordability.
  • Pad counts above 80 where possible, with municipal water and sewer to limit infrastructure risk.
  • A preference for tenant-owned homes over park-owned homes, for the cleaner, lower-liability cash flow profile.
  • A clear value-add path: filling vacant pads, converting park-owned homes to tenant-owned, and recovering utility costs through sub-metering.

That last lever matters more than most investors expect. As covered in the breakdown of utility sub-metering, recovering water and sewer costs can add tens of thousands of dollars in annual NOI on a single park. Before any acquisition, every deal runs through the full MHP due diligence checklist.

The Bottom Line for Investors

Constrained supply, sticky demand, low turnover, and recession-resistant cash flow are a rare combination, and manufactured housing has all four. The Requity Income Fund is actively underwriting MHC deals across the Southeast and Midwest, pairing equity ownership with direct lending on small-balance communities. The fund targets a 10% annual return to investors; target returns are an objective, not a guarantee, and all private investments carry risk, including possible loss of principal. If you are an accredited investor who wants exposure to this asset class, request investor materials to see the active pipeline.