Orange County NC Website
manufactured homes have been built in Orange County, since April 1990. Approximately 99% <br />of these have been built in rural portions of the County. <br />Current sales values for new mobile home in Orange County are not available. In their place are <br />1997 statewide market prices for single and double-wide units. In 1997 the .average price of a <br />single wide in North Carolina was $28,100, the average market rate for a double wide was <br />$51,400. <br />For mobile home residents who own their home and the land underneath it the-total cost of a <br />manufactured home can be approximated to range from $35,700 for asingle -wide on a two acre <br />lot to $59,000 for a double wide on the same size lot. This is based on a land acquisition cost of <br />$3800 per acre. The cost for manufactured housing on larger lots would vary depending on the <br />lot size purchased. <br />Statistics detailing the monthly rental payment for a manufactured unit are not currently <br />available. The most reasonable proxy is an anecdotal figure of $275, obtained from the article: <br />°Manufacturing Housing Thrives in NC, but Mobility is Limited in Triangle", from the Raleigh <br />News and Observer, dated April 26, 1995. <br />The relative affordability of manufactured housing is countered by several factors. Mobile home <br />units are located considerable distances from schools, services and jobs. Additionally, despite <br />advances in the construction method, the quality of such housing remains a question. This is in <br />part due to the fact that non-modular manufactured homes are subject only to federal standards <br />rather than more stringent state standards. Lastly within Orange County, zoning and design <br />restrictions have confined mobile homes to rural areas of the county. For persons seeking a more <br />suburban location near Chapel Hill or Carrboro, the availability of existing manufactured. <br />housing, or land upon which to place such housing is limited. <br />Within municipal portions of the county, developers have chosen to serve the affluent Chapel <br />Hill and Carrboro housing market by constructing higher-end apartments or homes. Actions such <br />as these have created an affordable housing gap which has been occupied. by the public sector <br />and not for profit developers. <br />The ability of the private and non-profits to successfully. develop affordable housing has <br />depended on the financial backing of the private and public sector. Of the $20,640,406 invested <br />in the County for affordable housing programs between 1992-1997, approximately 56% has <br />come from federal and state sources, 39% from private sources and the remaining 5% from local <br />sources. As a result of this 20 million plus investment, 368 new housing units (285 rental, 83 <br />owner occupied) were constructed in Orange County between 1992 and 1997, and 118 homes <br />were rehabilitated. <br />Additional affordable housing has been provided through the activities of the Orange County <br />HOME Consortium, local county and municipal governments and non-profits to rehabilitate <br />housing for Orange County's low income populations. Between 1994. and 1997, 104 housing <br />units were renovated throughout Orange County. These projects were primarily funded through <br />federal and state sources. Local funding when used, came from Chapel Hill's Neighborhood <br />Revitalization Loan Fund or it's Comprehensive Grant Program. <br />16 <br />