The sun., 1905-11-19
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET.
OLD Law TENEMENTS CONTINUE
TO LEAD IN THE TRADING.

They Are Popular as Investments on the
Theory That They viii Always BE in
Position TO I'nderbid New Houses
In Offering Low Rents TO Tenants
Dealing in tenement houses and vacant
lots continues to form the larger part OF
the business reported from brokers' officeS.
The rest OF the trading at private con-
tract consists chiefly Of transactions In
dwelling houses and in antiquated premises
in the new midtown mercantile district.
There IL no well defined movement as
regards apartment houses or downtown
business property although sales OF realty
of this description are by no means in
frequent. While concerned principally
with realty, improved and unimproved,
in the less expensive residence sections,
the brokerage business, viewed as whole,
il exceptionally large in volume, indicating
an unusually extensive public support.
The activity in the older tenement dis
tricts persists in spite of symptoms Of over
building along the subway in upper Man
haitian and in The Bronx. 1t centres
especially on the middle East Side and in
the contiguous part OF Harlem, but ex-
tends over practically all the important
ltueIucnt HelRhDOTHOOuN. lh6 Duin va
the activity affects old law houses. Such
houses are of less costly construction,
contain fever improvements, and are
less expensive to operate than houses
erected under the present tenement law.
They appeal to q poorer class OF tenants
than do the new constructions. However,
it is the class of tenants which is growing
most rapidly through i'm igration. Mean
while the supply of old and cheap though
inferior tenements is bound to remain
stationary.
According to the prevailing belief they
form on this account a distinct and separate
class of Investments which cannot de-
preciate in value through competition
from tenements Of the modern type, but
must constantly tend to enhance in price.
They are consequently exploited on large
scale by professional spe culators, who
find no difficulty in disposing Of them at
profitable figures to small investors.
No doubt the latter also are for the most
part spectators in the sense that they
look to increment in freehold values rather
than to ordinary investment returns. Never
theless. their purchases represent a COM
paratively permanent conversion Of capital.
The support given by this class Of buyers
is sufficient to maintain an enormous volume
of dealing in the older tenement districts,
a dealing which exceeds even the unpre-
cedented records established last year.
Meanwhile the view that the new law
tenement cannot possibly compete with the
old law tenement in the matter of rents
is 10y no means universally accepted. The
fact that builders continue to project con-
,t, NO m Ia
uptown indicates that they see their way
have hitherto prevailed in new law tene-
mente As at matter of fact builders are
already Offering rebates of rent in The
Bronx and on Washington Heights in order
to fill their houses promptly. The rebates
are. of course. more or less secret; a
of special contract between in
iividual landlords and tenants. Past ex-
periences however, has shown that when
such rebates are found necessary they re-
fleet a condition of supply and demand
which must soon obtain expression in a
general lowering of rents
As yet new law tenements have not been
erected to any considerable extent on really
cheap land. Lols on Washington Heights,
in the upper Lenox avenue neighborhood
and in the more accessible sections of The
Bronx are comparatively expensive In
couple of months, however. subway trains
will be running to Kingsbridge, opening up
for settlement the great Dyckman tract
at the northerly end Of Manhattan. Land
there il relatively cheap, and the section
will undoubtedly be an important seat Of
building activity next spring. The con-
structions are expected to be Of the least
expensive character permitted under the
new law, for in order to secure tenants
they must be able to draw upon the older
districts. 1t is evident from the renting
which s developing in The Bronx
and on Washington Heights that there is
no longer any absolute deficiency of dwell
ing accommodations throughout the city
and that In the future tenements built up
town must tend to reduce population in
the Older districts.