With housing prices soaring ever higher, many people are turning to manufactured homes as an affordable alternative. Manufactured homes -- commonly known as "mobile" homes -- are luring buyers with low costs, improved safety records, and innovative new designs.

According to the Manufactured Housing Institute:

• In 1999, more than 21 million Americans lived full-time in manufactured homes. That's about 7.6 percent of the U.S. population.

• The average cost of a manufactured home in 1999 was $43,600.

• In the year 2000, one out of six new single-family housing starts was a manufactured home.

Many still refer to the structures as "mobile" homes, but the Institute finds that is really a misnomer. It says the majority of manufactured homes are never moved after installation. Mobile home is actually a term that was used for factory-built homes produced prior to June 15, 1976. That's when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began to administer a federal code that governs the construction of all manufactured homes.

Despite the federal regulations, manufactured homes still have an image problem in some quarters. So, Oakwood Homes, one of the nation's largest manufactured home builders, is showcasing the durability of its homes by taking a "glass house" on tour.

The ten-foot wide glass house is a scaled-down model of Oakwood's manufactured homes. It has a clear side that allows visitors to see not only the rooms inside, but also the insides of the walls, roofing and ceilings.

Oakwood's Senior Vice President of Marketing, Mark Bloomquist, says the company wants to show that "'affordable housing' doesn't mean corners are cut." Bloomquist says the "see-through house" gives people a chance to see "durable construction specifications that either meet or exceed housing standards." The house is currently on tour at NASCAR and NHRA events, as well as state fairs.

Among the construction elements Oakwood says it wants to highlight in the house:

• A higher quality insulation package than required by building standards for manufactured housing

• 16-inch on-center floor joists that are as good as or better than the entire housing industry's standard

• Walls secured by screws, not nails

Since the establishment of the HUD code 25 years ago, the department has refined its regulations to improve the safety of manufactured homes. In 1993, HUD issued a regulation aimed at improving energy efficiency and providing better ventilation. In 1994, HUD adopted new standards designed to help manufactured homes better withstand high winds in hurricane areas.

Despite the improved safety record for manufactured homes, residents still get hit when it comes time to insure their homes. While manufactured homes are no more likely than site-built homes to sustain fire or wind damage, insurance companies say manufactured homes are likely to suffer greater damage when tragedy strikes.

For many people, that insurance fee is a small price to pay when it may mean the difference between renting or owning a home of their own. That's especially true now that improvements in building technology are allowing for greater variety in the design of manufactured homes.

Ceiling heights have grown to nine feet in some models, and new roofing systems allow for a greater pitch. Perhaps the most surprising development, the Manufactured Housing Institute says some manufactured homes are now being built with a second story. With the new innovations in manufactured housing, it's becoming harder to tell the manufactured home from its site-built neighbor.

Carol Ochs is a Washington-based reporter who covers new home trends.