Home sales in the metropolitan area in 1998 totaled 2,278, a 12-percent increase over 1997 volume. In the first 3 months of 1999, home sales totaled 472, up 9 percent compared with the same period last year. The Teays Valley area in eastern Putnam and western Kanawha Counties is currently the hottest sub-market and is expected to remain so due to demand from new employees at the Toyota plant in nearby Buffalo. The rental housing market remains stable. The vacancy rate for higher priced and newer units in larger complexes is about 5 percent.
Manufactured homes are an important source of affordable housing.
They represented about 11 percent of the available housing stock in 1990 and have made up a significant portion of the new construction since. In 1998, for example, manufactured housing represented 45 percent of the new single-family homes added in the metropolitan area.