In a quiet Syracuse neighborhood, a bright blue-and-white house arrived one summer morning on two flatbed trucks.
By the end of the week, the three-bedroom home — complete with two bathrooms, an open-concept kitchen with an island, and modern finishes — had been assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle on a once-vacant lot, adding new life to the aging street.
Built in a nearby factory, the home sits on a 60-by-120-foot lot owned by the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, a nonprofit devoted to turning abandoned properties into productive homes. Starting Monday, it will be on the market for $175,000.
This home, along with others in Schenectady and Newcomb in the Adirondacks, marks the kickoff of New York State’s $50 million investment to deliver 200 modular and manufactured homes to low- and middle-income families over the next year.
The initiative is part of a larger $1.5 billion housing plan included in the 2026 state budget.
Addressing a Growing Housing Shortage
The Move In NY program is designed to tackle a housing crunch that has intensified in suburbs, upstate cities, and rural areas, especially since the pandemic. From August 2019 to August 2025, median home prices jumped 74% in suburban counties and 73% in rural counties — far outpacing urban areas, which rose 51%, according to Redfin.
To meet demand, New York would need 800,000 new housing units by 2030, according to the Regional Plan Association. While 200 homes are a drop in the bucket, Gov. Kathy Hochul sees modular housing as a fast solution.
“This is the answer to how we can get the supply quickly,” Hochul said in an interview.
How Communities Can Participate
Starting Monday, municipalities can apply to take part in the program. Up to 15 communities will be selected. To qualify, towns must commit to building at least 10 homes on land without zoning restrictions and sell them to buyers who meet income requirements.
While the first three homes were built by Michigan-based Champion Homes, other manufacturers can bid to supply the remaining units.
Manufactured homes are cheaper and quicker to build than traditional wood-frame houses. Whereas a conventional house takes roughly 18 months to complete, the Syracuse home was finished in six months and assembled in just eight days at a cost of $250,000 — about half the price of a conventional build.
Yet manufactured housing has long carried a stigma. For many, the term evokes trailers in trailer parks: aging homes vulnerable to storms and wear.
“A trailer in a trailer park is vastly different than the 2025 version,” Hochul said, noting that her parents once lived in a single-wide trailer in Buffalo. She hopes the program will reshape perceptions of modular homes as safe, stylish, and accessible starter homes.
Overcoming Financing Barriers
Banks often classify manufactured homes differently, making them harder to finance. Many are built on a chassis, and owners don’t own the underlying land, meaning buyers often get personal or chattel loans instead of standard mortgages.
The Move In NY program requires homes to be built on land sold with the property and to meet federal housing standards. That allows buyers to qualify for conventional mortgages. State financing programs will also help with down payments and mortgage support.
Today’s manufactured homes can be virtually indistinguishable from wood-frame houses. Features include pitched roofs, garages, porches, and open kitchens. Champion Homes can build units up to 2,300 square feet with five bedrooms, though the first three models are similar in design.
Balancing Urban and Rural Needs
Housing needs vary across New York. Syracuse struggles with vacant lots and blighted properties, while small towns like Newcomb face funding challenges for basic infrastructure, such as roads and sewers. Michael Borges, executive director of the Rural Housing Coalition of New York, cautions that rural communities require targeted programs.
Some towns resist building affordable housing, particularly manufactured homes. Rather than mandate construction, the state offers incentives such as zero-percent loans and partial grants. Hochul hopes these measures, combined with growing housing demand, will encourage communities to act.
“Their communities will stagnate if they don’t build more housing,” Hochul said. “We’ll lose kids, not to Florida and Texas; we’ll lose them to New Jersey and Connecticut because they built more housing. That’s what’s happening.”
Author Profile
-
The writer is a real estate journalist specializing in all types of New York City properties, including luxury residences, commercial spaces, and homes.
He also writes humorous articles about real estate, investors, and realtors.
Latest Posts
BlogDecember 15, 2025Houston Real Estate 2026: Growth and Hotspots Ahead
BlogDecember 3, 2025Why Houston Real Estate Investing Is Surging in 2026
BlogNovember 29, 2025Real Estate Market Insights: Why Every Call Matters
PerspectiveNovember 20, 2025Things to do in New York without real estate agents