America’s housing market is teetering on the edge of a major crisis. While mortgage rates may have dropped slightly, the country is still grappling with an unprecedented housing shortage—an estimated gap of 5 to 7 million homes. The rising cost of construction, stagnant building practices, and growing demand have made homeownership feel unattainable for millions of Americans. Enter Jack Truong, the visionary CEO with a plan to revolutionize how we think about building homes.
Truong, a veteran leader with experience at global companies like 3M and Electrolux, has his sights set on a solution many might not have considered: prefabricated homes. These factory-built houses, assembled on-site, could be the key to solving the affordability and supply issues plaguing the American housing market.
The Problem with Traditional Construction
For more than a century, homebuilding in the U.S. has relied on traditional, labor-intensive methods that Truong argues are both outdated and inefficient. “Builders here in the U.S. are still constructing homes the same way they have for the last 100 years,” Truong explains. “It’s sequential, and that’s why it takes six to 12 months on average to build a home.”
This sluggish pace means the market simply can’t keep up with demand. In 2022, only about 1 million new homes were built—a number far too low to meet the needs of first-time homebuyers, let alone the broader population. At the same time, the rising cost of starter homes in major cities, often exceeding $250,000, has made homeownership feel like a distant dream for younger generations.
For Truong, the answer is clear: homebuilding needs a major upgrade. Prefabrication, he argues, is the future of affordable, efficient housing.
What Are Prefabricated Homes?
If the term “prefabricated home” conjures up images of cheap, cookie-cutter buildings, think again. Modern prefab homes are a far cry from the stereotypes of the past. Built in factories and transported to construction sites for assembly, these homes can be completed in a fraction of the time—often just two to four months. Even better, they cost as little as 25% of a traditionally built home.
Truong sees this streamlined process as a game-changer. By cutting down on labor costs and production time, prefabrication offers a practical solution for making homeownership more accessible. “This is how we’re going to solve the housing crisis in the country today,” he asserts.
Lessons from Abroad: Europe’s Prefab Boom
While prefab homes are still relatively rare in the U.S., they’ve gained significant traction overseas. In Germany, for example, more than 25% of new homes are prefabricated. These homes aren’t just affordable—they’re also well-designed and durable, proving that efficiency doesn’t have to come at the cost of quality.
Truong is inspired by these international success stories. “These homes are of good quality and value,” he says, pointing to the way countries like Germany and the Netherlands have used prefabrication to address their own housing shortages. He believes the U.S. could follow suit, making prefab homes a mainstream option for first-time buyers.
Tackling Housing Market Volatility
One of the most intriguing benefits of prefabrication is its ability to stabilize the often-volatile housing market. Traditional construction is slow to adapt to changes in demand, leading to boom-and-bust cycles that can devastate communities. Prefabricated homes, on the other hand, can be produced quickly and adjusted based on market needs.
“The components are built in the factory, so prefab homes can be flexed up or down based on demand,” Truong explains. This flexibility could prevent the kind of housing bubbles that wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy in the early 2000s. By producing homes at scale and in line with demand, prefabrication has the potential to create a more sustainable housing market.
Making Housing Affordable Again
For many Americans, the dream of owning a home feels increasingly out of reach. Truong argues that the root of the problem lies in the lack of supply, particularly when it comes to starter homes. “There’s not enough production of new homes, particularly in the starter and move-up categories,” he says.
Prefabrication offers a way to bridge this gap. By producing homes more efficiently, builders can introduce a larger supply of affordable options into the market. This, in turn, could drive down prices and make homeownership attainable for more people.
“The more supply of these new homes is in the marketplace, the more affordable the homes will be,” Truong says. “That’s the dynamic we need today.”
Overcoming Misconceptions About Prefab Homes
Despite their many advantages, prefab homes face a major obstacle: public perception. In the U.S., prefabricated housing has often been dismissed as low-quality or unattractive, a stigma that Truong believes is both outdated and unfair.
“Modern prefab houses are characterized by high quality, efficiency, and multiple design aesthetics,” he explains. Advances in technology, such as computer-aided design and artificial intelligence, have made it possible to create customizable homes that are both stylish and functional. Today’s prefab homes can match, or even surpass, traditional builds in terms of design and durability.
Truong sees educating the public as a crucial step in making prefabrication a viable solution. “Technology has changed a lot,” he says. “You can design your own homes, and they would be able to fabricate it.”
The Need for Policy Support
While prefabrication holds immense promise, Truong is quick to point out that it won’t succeed without the right support. The U.S. currently has only about 60 prefab factories—far too few to meet national demand. Expanding this infrastructure will require significant investment from both the private sector and the government.
“You see a lot of these small prefab builders crop up around the country, but they need to be supported,” Truong says. “They need to be invested in. If the government wants to help new home buyers, this is where they should really put the attention.”
Truong also criticizes existing housing policies for failing to address the root causes of the crisis. He argues that proposals like Vice President Kamala Harris’s $25,000 grants for first-time buyers may inadvertently drive up prices by increasing demand without boosting supply.
“The key is to produce significantly more homes—two to three times more—each year,” he says. “Especially in starter home and move-up home categories.”
A Vision for the Future
Jack Truong is optimistic about the potential of prefabricated homes to transform the U.S. housing market. By embracing faster, more efficient building methods, he believes the country can address its housing shortage and make homeownership a reality for millions of Americans.
“We need to inject new homes built in America, at a much faster rate and at a lower cost,” he says. “And there’s a way to do that. Prefab homes are the solution.”
While the road ahead may be challenging, Truong’s vision offers a glimmer of hope. With the right policies and public support, prefabricated homes could be the key to solving one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Conclusion
Jack Truong’s advocacy for prefabricated homes is more than a call for innovation—it’s a blueprint for a better future. By rethinking how homes are built, Truong offers a solution that addresses not just the symptoms of the housing crisis, but its underlying causes.
As the U.S. grapples with the realities of a growing housing gap, prefabrication stands out as a practical, scalable solution. With leaders like Truong at the helm, the dream of affordable, sustainable homeownership might just be within reach.