A pilot program to expand the available of affordable homeownership through the use of lower-cost manufactured starter homes is now being taken statewide after its successful test with three homes in Syracuse, Schenectady and the Town of Newcomb.
The program will be expanded to provide up to 200 additional starter homes across the state. It’s part of an effort that was championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who proposed using innovative approaches to homebuilding during her 2025 State of the State address, and then obtained funding in the state budget.
The $50 million initiative, dubbed MOVE-IN, is designed to deliver factory-built, energy-efficient homes at half the cost of traditional homes and up to three times faster than regular construction. In turn, those pre-fabricated homes will then be sold for less than cost to low- and moderate-income homebuyers, offering an affordable solution to the state’s housing crisis.
Skyrocketing construction costs, material prices and interest rates have driven the typical cost of constructing even a small single-family home in New York to $450,000 or more, putting them out of reach for many first-time homebuyers such as young individuals and families, and even for older New Yorkers looking to downsize. At the same time, the shortage of existing homes for sale has pushed sales prices for those houses through the roof.
“This groundbreaking initiative has the potential to revolutionize the way we create high-quality, beautifully designed starter homes in New York,” Hochul said. “The MOVE-IN program will help address the rising cost of housing and enable more New Yorkers to afford a home of their own and achieve the dream of homeownership.”
The three-bedroom, two-bathrooms homes are produced in a factory by Champion Homes, a manufactured housing company in the Oneida County town of Sangerfield. Each 1,500-square-foot home includes a porch and a garage, and they are installed on vacant land owned by local land banks. They were erected in six months, at a cost of about $250,000 each to build and install.
The homes – known as CrossMods – are built to federal standards and guidelines, resemble traditional single-family houses, and can fit in urban, suburban or rural communities. And they can be built economically at a large scale.
“The need for affordable housing is not going away,” said Champion Homes Sales Manager James Davis. “The MOVE-IN program addresses the housing crisis head-on with factory-built housing. The program brings affordable homes to market quickly.”
The program is now open to municipalities, nonprofit housing developers, land banks and home manufacturers across New York to apply for participation through New York State Homes and Community Renewal, which partnered with Champion. Officials will seek to work particularly with communities with a significant amount of residentially zoned vacant land, and those where homeownership opportunities are unaffordable.
The state said it will also explore the potential of using factory-built products to construct townhomes and multi-story homes for more densely populated areas.
“This $50 million investment will enable the state to significantly spur the production of more housing at record speeds to address the issue of the lack of supply,” said Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas.
Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or jepstein@buffnews.com.
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Jonathan D. Epstein
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