Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-10-08
A BOOM IN REAL ESTATE.

At last We are hearing Of a boom In
real estate-"the last thing up in pros
porous times and the first thing down
in times of adversely"
So rapid is the tendency upward in
some of the larger cities, that apprehen-
sion is felt among conservative business
men that there will be a rush to ex-
IRENE prices which may defeat a return
TO a healthy and stable market.
In New York prominent dealers in
real estate report an active demand Tor
lots for occupation and improvement.
This demand reaches in all directions
and for all classes of property, 1t has
made holders of desirable property
firmer in their prices and less ready to
dispose OF lots, than they were a year
ago. The inquiry for first class dwell
lings is said to exceed any demand IN
that line for years past.
An interview is reported by the Times
with one of the oldest property dealers
i'm that city, who advances some opin-
ions upon the situation which are as
true Tor one locality as another:
Mr.. Anthony J. Blocker, who has
been a prominent man in the real estate
business for about half century, said,
in regard TO the present condition OF the
market, that il was more hopeful than
it had been, but that the improvement
was not great enough TO amount TO a
sensational rise. 81 have seen the
pendulum swing good while, and 1t
always swings about as lar one way as
the other. | saw the successive move
ments of 1925, 1885, 1915, and 1875, and
have noticed the fluctuations since.
| They are but repetitiOns one of another,
| only different i'm being each time larger
and more sweeping. Every time
real estate rises, property is over
valued. | remember when Wash
| ingtOn-square was Potter 5
/ Field, i'm which we buried our yellow
/ fever dead. 4 real estate fever attacked
/ the city, and immense hopes were
/ raised Oi the prospective value OF Wash
| ington Square lots when it was laid out
/ ass park. Lots were held at $4,000
/ apiece then, and doubt very much ii
| they can be sold for that price now.
/ Just now there is haste on the part OF
some one to rush prices up again. See
I how it acts upon owners. 1 had made
arrangements for large sale OF city
property, mostly located in the old
wards. and the catalogue had been Is
sued. The owners OF the estate, catch
inc the hint that there was to be
a great rise, abandoned the sale
and determined to hold on for
Improvement i'm prices. eShall prob
ably 20 on repeating ourselves lndeh-
nitcv. Prices will 90 up again, but not
So high as they were. fifth-avenue lots
are not so high priced although they
have held their own better than lots on
/ other streets, but the eXtravagant prices
Of the war times cannot again be real
iZed Ii is natural that there should be
an improvement, il the indications of
better business in all commercial
branches are true. People are earning
money, and when they feel comfortably
wealthy, they Will inevitably look about
for real estate in which To invest their
wealth.
In Chicago the boom is more mani
fest than in New York. There has
been large increase over last year on
real estate transactions every month
since January last, both in the number
and aggregate considerations received.
A Chicago paper reviews the market as
follows
While all classes of real-cstate prop
ertv exhibit strong tendency To I'M
provement, there is the greatest real ac-
tivitv i'm dwelling property OF a medium
priced character. This is indicated by
the large number of inquiries Tor dwell
ings: also, by the large number Of deeds
recorded for medium-priccd property.
The number OF sales this week Is quite
large, although the aggregate amount is
only up 10 the average. The activity
in dwelling property is also shown
bv the inquiry for houses 10 rent.
Agents have more customers than
they can accommodate, and the knOwl-
edge of this fact becoming known to
persons who have money To invest has
caused greater activity in the building
OF houses to meet this demand. This
is plainly shown by the records of new
buildings erected last month. 1t is
seldom that the South Side does not
lead the other two in the value OF
buildings erected. This is owing to the
business buildings OF great value which
are put mp there. But last month the
value OF South Side improvements only
aggregated 5000, while the North Side
improvements footed mp $4,000, and
the West Side $4,000 In other words,
the residences OF divisions went lar
ahead ofthe business district last month
in the matter of improvements.