Dive summary:

• Modular construction has never had a huge piece of the home-building market – about 3% – but the pre-built option may look more attractive if builders find themselves with growing demand but a static labor pool.
• The housing market has been recovering, but 2 million workers lost jobs since the last housing boom, and some portion of those, perhaps a large segment, are not waiting for a call to come back.
• Builders are at least considering their options, as Champion Enterprises marketing chief Kevin Flaherty found at at the recent International Builders' Show, where he expected some interest in a scheduled presentation and wound up with a standing-room-only crowd.

From the article:

"We think [shortages] are really going to hit the fan in 2014," if projections about buyer demand and housing starts come to pass, says Flaherty."“So, builders need to be ready for it." ...