Abstract
Mobile homes can be produced in high volumes at a lower cost than traditional stick-built single-family dwellings but face regulatory, financial, and perceptual barriers to more widespread market penetration. This research relies on data from a sample of US cities and counties to examine the influence of local land use regulations on the concentration of new mobile homes among all new homes added over two 10-year time spans. In contrast to previous studies, this study relies on a nationwide sample of jurisdictions, employs more precise measures of mobile home placements and local land use regulations, and addresses the endogeneity of mobile home restrictions. I find that regulatory restrictions on mobile homes and urban containment boundaries both limit the concentration of new mobile homes. Furthermore, the impact of mobile home restrictions is much larger when accounting for the endogeneity of mobile home restrictions. These findings suggest that land use regulatory reform can play an important role in local affordable housing strategies geared towards expanding the supply of mobile homes.
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