NPR

Factory-Made Homes Grow More Popular As U.S. Cities Face Housing Crunch

Modular construction is growing as the cost of building a home in many U.S. cities continues to rise.
A construction crane towers over a modular apartment building next to the Barclay's Center, Monday, May 5, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The cost of building a home in the U.S. is rising as many cities face a construction labor shortage. In the hopes of shrinking the construction timeline, some home builders are turning to prefabricated units. Modular construction, as its known, is a small but growing segment of the market for single-family homes, apartment buildings and even hotels.

“The thing that needs to be thought about is the

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