Yesterday was an extremely busy day for Modcoach with more than 100 emails and 20 phone calls all related to the modular housing industry. With every call and email I usually ask “how you doing right now?” I expected to hear a wide range of responses but instead I got a consistent pattern of answers and guarded optimism.
Just about all the factories have enough work to keep them running 5 days a week but not at capacity. All had a strong 1st quarter with both production and sales running ahead of last year. The 2nd quarter has proven a little sluggish for sales with production still at decent numbers. I heard that most factories are quoting at a good pace which usually means the next quarter will be OK. None of the factory people I talked with are even venturing a guess what the year’s end will bring or the 1st quarter of next year.
Most of the factories are seeing a slowdown in multi-family projects both in production and sales as it appears that there might be a saturation point approaching. A couple of factory people asked if I knew any experienced salespeople that were looking for work on the East Coast. That’s always a good sign. Contact Modcoach if you would like more info.
Builders were also upbeat but I only talked with four. They all said that they were busy building houses and quoting new ones. Most have accepted the new reality of fewer houses than in the glory days and have adjusted their business model.
Overall, I think things are still at the bottom of the curve but everyone seems to be waiting patiently for the chain to take the roller coaster car to the top of the next hill. Check it out!
