Research, summaries, and annotations by Laura Supple

 Summary

This section of the literature review aims to capture overall, near-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the manufactured housing market in Alaska and the United States. The documents discuss supply- and demand-side aspects of the manufactured, off-site, and modular housing and construction industry from multiple perspectives, including home buyers, sellers, manufacturers, builders, renters, and other users of non-residential modular construction, such as health care facilities. The literature is organized around three key topics:

§ 1.1 Impacts of COVID-19 on off-site modular construction in Alaska

§ 1.2 Impacts of COVID-19 on off-site modular construction nationally or globally

§ 1.3 Impacts of COVID-19 on the off-site modular construction supply chain

Many of the most up-to-date and topically aligned resources addressing ongoing impacts to the modular construction industry during the pandemic came from trade associations, industry groups, and industry-serving lobbying or consulting groups in the form of communications to members, shareholders, and/or other direct stakeholders. These memos, blog posts, and presentations are likely biased towards more optimistic and favorable views of the industry and its potential contribution to economic recovery and housing affordability. A limited selection of local and national news reports and academic publications were included in the initial literature search, but there were very few relevant resources identified. The research team identified very few published resources that spoke directly to the central research question of impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the modular construction industry within Alaska.

Overall, the resources identified through this literature review generally portray off-site modular construction as a promising affordable housing option with potential to address housing adequacy, acceptability, and affordability in remote and urban Alaskan communities. Demand- and supply-side impacts of COVID-19 on the housing and construction industry generally intensified these ongoing challenges in many Alaskan cities and villages, and some reports indicate early exploration of locally-adapted modular and prefabricated homes as a potential solution for communities that would otherwise struggle to supply adequate workforce and materials to address housing needs, but these strategies are largely in development and demonstration stages.