*In Scott County, more than 5,000 people -- about 13 percent of the population -- live in more than 3,000 mobile homes

Sales of mobile homes are rolling along in the Cape Girardeau area.

Mobile home dealers say wider mobile or manufactured homes, better construction, affordability, and expansion of area mobile home parks have been key factors in the growing demand for such housing.

"The quality over the past several years has just really increased," AA Mobile Home Sales owner Mary Williams of Festus said. The company began selling mobile homes in Cape Girardeau about a year and a half ago.

More than 4,000 people live in more than 3,000 manufactured homes in Cape Girardeau County, representing nearly 8 percent of the population. In Scott County, more than 5,000 people -- about 13 percent of the population -- live in more than 3,000 mobile homes.

Pete Umfleet of Monty's Mobile Homes in Cape Girardeau said manufactured homes have a lot to offer.

"You take a mobile home today, you have the same-size commodes, the same-size faucets, the same-size water heaters just like you do in a stick-built house," he said.

Monty's Mobile Homes is the eighth-largest dealer in Missouri and the largest in Southeast Missouri. Last year, the company sold about 215 manufactured homes.

Umfleet, who has been in the business for 17 years, said sales have never been better.

He said 16-foot-wide mobile homes have created greater demand for such housing, replacing the 14-foot-wide homes that used to be the industry standard.

A 16-by-80-foot manufactured home will cost from $23,000 to $33,000. A double-wide home will cost from $30,000 to $55,000.

Mobile homes used to be viewed as a poor substitute for a house. But that is no longer the case.

Umfleet said today's manufactured homes are better built and come with plenty of amenities. "You can get them with up to four bedrooms and three bathrooms."

Some units come with everything from saunas to skylights.

Umfleet said more lenders are willing to finance mobile home purchases today.

"When I got into the business in 1978, we had one lender," he recalled. Today, Monty's Mobile Homes deals with about 13 to 15 lenders, including some local banks.

The popularity of such homes is reflected in the growth of mobile home parks.

Route W Mobile Home Park was expanded last summer.

"We put in two new streets and enlarged it by 64 pads," park manager Ray Long said.

The park previously could house 107 manufactured homes. Today, it can house 171 and is fast approaching capacity.

"I think there are 18 empty lots," he said.

Long said there are some 10 mobile home parks in and around Cape Girardeau, including three in the Fruitland area.

Long, who lives in the park, bought a new double-wide home just over a year ago.

Buying a mobile home costs less than a conventional home, he said. Buyers generally put down only a couple thousand dollars, about 5 to 10 percent of the purchase price.

"A lot of your younger kids don't have the credit to get into a stick-built house," he said.

Competition in the mobile home business is increasing locally. The All-American Home Center recently opened its doors.

Jeff Dalton, the company's general manager, said the homes are built to building-code standards.

"We can put basements and garages on and basically you can't tell the difference between the mobile home and the site-built home," he said.

"We are bringing in buyers that were not typically associated with the mobile home market, the young professionals and middle-income people," Dalton said.