A Texas manufactured housing survey reveals the industry’s positive outlook on the second half of the year.

Manufacturers have been expanding payrolls and capital expenditure investments even with the current supply-chain snags.

"Strong retail sales data suggest declining sales from manufacturers has more to do with the market normalizing from the pandemic production squeeze than from some larger slowdown in demand," Rob Ripperda, vice president of operations for the Texas Manufactured Housing Association, said in a statement from the Texas Real Estate Research Center. "Texas manufacturers had been receiving orders from states much farther than normal. As producers in other states catch up, spec orders and demand from out-of-region buyers have probably cooled too."

Despite seeing a drop in manufactured-housing sales for three consecutive months, there is still an uptick in production amid backlog buildup over the past year.

Notably, the cost of raw materials has also decreased for two consecutive months, according to Texas Real Estate Research Center.

While there are supply chain bottlenecks, “port and railroad executives predict significant improvement in material flows six to nine months from now," according to Dr. Harold Hunt, a research economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.