A recent article at Forbes.com looks beyond the current downturn:

When U.S. housing recovers, the leading homebuilders may not be the ones to benefit.

Instead:

Humble creators of manufactured housing. Not only are these low-end homes more in keeping with the spirit of the times than mutant McMansions, they look much better than the double-wides of yore and subsidy-happy Uncle Sam is about to include them under the aegis of its favored lending programs.

According to the article:

Starting in April [2009], the Federal Housing Administration is increasing loan limits to $70,000 from $46,000 when only the manufactured home -- and not the property beneath -- is being financed.

FHA loans are becoming hugely popular:

...because they are essentially the only low-downpayment loan offering available...There is no income ceiling or credit floor on an FHA insured loan. A borrower just needs to come up with a 3.0% downpayment and prove sufficient income to pay back the loan.

We previously covered the difference between manufactured (HUD code) and modular (regular code) homes.

Read the article for more details.