Realtor.com maps where chassis-free manufactured homes will actually land — zoning still blocks 83% of US land

The federal change is real. Zoning is still the gatekeeper.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which became law on July 11, 2026, removed the requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent steel chassis. That is now federal law. But a Realtor.com® research report released October 26 adds the critical next question: where can those homes actually go once they come off the factory floor?

The short answer, for most of the country, is not easily. According to Land Use Labs data covering roughly two-thirds of U.S. jurisdictions, approximately 17% of zoned land nationally expressly allows manufactured-home parks. Municipalities can keep manufactured homes out by excluding them from ordinary residential zones, limiting them to commercial or industrial areas, imposing minimum footprint requirements, or requiring special-exemption permits. Minimum floor-area rules and design standards can block homes that otherwise meet federal HUD construction standards.

"The federal change can only open the door," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. "Local leaders still decide whether these homes can move from the factory to a neighborhood."

The 10 metros with the most room to gain

Realtor.com ranked the top 100 metro areas on three factors: the share of single-family listings priced at or below 80% of the metro's median listing price (a proxy for starter-home shortage), the per-square-foot premium for new site-built construction over existing homes, and the median price of land per acre. The top 10 metros where the chassis-free change could matter most are:

1. Hartford–West Hartford, CT (starter-home share 17.9%; new-construction premium 29.1%; median land $54,805/acre)
2. Denver–Aurora–Centennial, CO
3. Allentown–Bethlehem, PA–NJ
4. Albuquerque, NM
5. Colorado Springs, CO
6. Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY
7. Rochester, NY
8. Syracuse, NY
9. Spokane–Spokane Valley, WA
10. Worcester, MA

All 10 are in the Northeast or West; Denver is the only one among the 50 largest metros by household count. "The markets with the most to gain are not necessarily the biggest ones," said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com. "They are places where the economics create an opening."

Some of those markets already allow manufactured homes by right — Colorado Springs, Bethlehem and Upper Macungie, PA, Spokane and Spokane Valley, WA. Others have rules that could exclude chassis-free homes: Albany bars mobile-home courts citywide; Aurora, Fountain, and Monument in Colorado impose a 24-by-36-foot minimum footprint that likely excludes most single-wide manufactured homes.

The cost math for buyers who own their land

Realtor.com's financing comparison illustrates the cost gap that a cleaner real-property path could close. A $200,000 manufactured home with 3% down at a 7.4% rate requires a $6,000 down payment and carries an estimated monthly payment of $1,343. The median site-built homebuyer put $27,100 down on a $419,250 home, producing an estimated payment of $2,715 at the same rate.

That math works best for buyers who own or are buying the land underneath the home. Fannie Mae allows 3% down with mortgage rates comparable to site-built homes when the home is permanently affixed and titled as real property. Buyers who purchase only the home — without the land — generally still need a chattel loan, which carries different rates, terms, and consumer protections.

What this means for foldable and expandable prefab buyers

This Realtor.com analysis covers HUD Code manufactured homes built by factory producers such as Clayton, Cavco, and Skyline Champion — not the products in the Foldable Home Store catalog.

• Boxabl Casita: approved under state modular programs in AZ, CA, NM, NV, SC, and TX — a different regulatory track, unaffected by HUD Code chassis rules.
• Expandable container homes (CHOMEX, JEEZOO, PackPrefab, Chery, Feekercn, etc.): no HUD or US residential certification; zoning analysis for HUD Code homes does not apply.
• ANSI park-model THOWs (MagicSlide 2X): built to NFPA 1192 / ANSI A119.5 park-model code.

That said, the zoning picture matters to every buyer of any factory-built home: the local rules that restrict where HUD Code manufactured homes can be placed often restrict the same parcels where expandable container homes and modular homes are most likely to face resistance. If your locality is on the list of places already allowing manufactured homes by right, it is a reasonable signal of a more permissive environment for any factory-built dwelling.