The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-12
The REAL ESTATE MARKET,
mo GROWIH ~ THE IOLI NE or
SPECt LITIIE DEALING.
Due Partly 10 Concentration OF Capital
IN the Hands Of Corporations
Methods Of business introduced
Good Demand Also for Investments.

Duc furUA 10 concentration OF tnpltdl
IN the Hands Of Corporations New
Methods Of business introduced
Good Demand Also for investments.
few years ago a weekly budget OF 100
private sales in February was regarded IA
far enough out Of the ordinary TO call for
special comment Last week more than
800 private sales were reported. Five
sixths OF these affected property in Man
haitian and the rest property in The Bronx
The bulk of the trading was in vacant lots
on Washington Heights and in the Lenox
avenue section north of l9Oth street An
important centre Of activity was in the
streets west of Fifth avenue, between
Thirty-fourth and Fortieth streets. In
this neighborhood some twenty sales Of
dwelling houses were put through. Prob
ably in "A majority Of instances the houses
will be converted TO business buildings.
Downtown, on the borders of the office
building district, sufficient number Of
transactions were made to indicate the
pressure of still another considerable seat
of activity.
1t would be interesting to know how
much of the recent increase in the volume
of buying and selling in due to expansion
of the city in industry and population and
how much TO more effective organization
Of speculative capital. In the last hVe
years several hundred realty companies
have been incorporated. syndicates oi opera
tors have been organized without number,
and the army of individual spectators
has been many times multiplied. Specu-
lation in real estate is less of an incidental
pursuit followed by men Of means engaged
primarily in other ! ines OF business than II
formerly was. 1t has become distinct
and important profession, with a huge
volume OF speculative capital at its COM
mand
Special organization and the presence OF
big sums Of money requiring constant EN-
ployrnent no doubt tend Of themselves
to create activity in buying and selling
Activity is further induced by the multiple
cation Of title and mortgage guarantee com
panies. Real estate IL no longer the SLOW
asset that 1t once was. deed insured by
title COMPANY does away with the necessity
of a long search in the Registers Office
| preliminary TO transfer. Contracts OF
| purchase affecting insured realty are readily
dealt in, and frequently pass through many
hands before the original seller yields pos
session of his property.
Improved business organization in these
various directions has facilitated and en-
coura ged professional trading, with the
result that much of tho current dealing
is of that order Constant employment OF
capital il demanded and, in the absence
ofinvestment buyers. professional operators
are driven to bargaining and hdrter1ng
among themselves, Evidently large part
of the present record breaking activity
in uptown lots is to be explained III thus
manner A notable illustration was fur
nished last week 10y the purchase OF plot
of seven lots in upper Harlem, at $4,000 "A
/ lot by an operator who sold II last Deem
Der at 5000 a lot. The property has
meanwhile changed hands half a dozen
times. The present owner OF course
expects to sell it at a further advance pre-
sumaby 10 a builder, and the builder Will
in turn demand profit from the prospeo-
tive investment buyer
There can be no doubt as TO the gem
eral effect on prices and on the vo4ume
of activity resulting from the reorganiza-
ton of tho real estate business in the last
[ few years. Values are now discounted
/ f. rther into the future than they ever WEI e
| before. and the proportion OF speculative
! deals to nvestm' mt purchasers y much
! larger On the other hand, there has also
/ been very considerable increase Of in
vestment buying, furnishing broader
! basis for the enlarged superstructure Of
! professional trading. The presence OF
| Investment capital in large amounts ls
| reflected by the current demands Tor pri-
vate houses. business premises, apartment
houses. and flats and tenements; The
| cheaper grades OF multi-iamily houses
! are now sold frequently from the plans.
a procedure practically unknown until last
! fall.
Investment buying as well az pure spccu-
lation, is. as matter OF fact, expanding
/ in sympathy with the growth Of the city
in population and wealth., with the eX-
tension Of transportation TO new areas
of land and with the return of industrial
I prosperity after a year or more Of COM
| parat:ve stagnation in productive enter
. pri-es In addition, the rise Of profess
I sionalism is the real estate business has
brought about a keener search FOR in
vestors The ranks Of possible buyers
are canvassed with a previously uneN-
ampled thoroughness. Under the present
. regime the investor is, indeed, offered a
smaller share of the "uneaned increment
Of real estate. but he is importuned all the
more to part with his money.
Whatever may be thought OF the charac-
ter of the current activity IN raeal estate,
it's volume IL certainly unprecedented.
SO far this yedr twice as many transfers
have been recorded as in the correspond
ing period OF 1904. the aggregate OF mort
gage loans has risen from $4,000 coo 70
$50 800 Geo, and plans nave been filed fol
new constructions costing Sl2 200 eco, az
against S3gCO.O0O a year ago, and the
prospect is that the lead already gained
I will he greatly increased when the building
season opens IN the sprinR