The Washington herald., 1907-12-22
REAL ESTATE ACTIVE
Market Regarded Satisfac-
tory by Big Brokers
GROWING IN THE SUBURBS
building Operations Undertaken in
Northern Part of the District.
Trolley Service still "a Handicap 60
AdvHncement-SupP of Houses
Not Equal to the Demand.

The real estate market for the past
week has been fairly active along the
lines IL has followed since midsummer
A considerable volume OF sales mas been
reported to the press, and the daily rec
ord shows that business Is going forward
about as usual at this period Of the year
Within the past few weeks the record
has shown the conveying back 10 orig
inal owners of a few pieces OF property
in cases where the purchasers Of former
months have grown tired OF the burden
Of paying for their holdings, or have been
unable 70 do so. The number Of such
conveyanees is not alarming or suggestive
Of more than the ordinary drift OF affairs
In real estate. Some buyers bite of
more than they can chew" as the saying
IS. and are obliged finally TO relinquish
tie property they have bought Misfor-
time overtakes some families In the way
Of Illness. the loss Of position. or some
other form, and the property partly paid
FOR must go back to the original owner
unless a new scale can intervene to save
the day.
Market Seems Satisfactory.
All in all, the situation is satisfactory.
and Washingtonians are buying homes.
investing savings in good rental property.
and increasing the permanent wealth Of
the District Possibly a greater number
of houses and lots, ranging in price from
$500 10 $4,000, have been sold this year
than al any other similar period I'm the
history OF the city. The population is
larger, several hundred new houses have
been added In the past year. and. as a
rule. these houses md ready sale. even
before they are released from the hands
of the carpenters and painters. Older
1 improvements in the resident quarters
and iu the business district are salable at
good figures. and the number Of deals
recorded are about equally divided be-
tween new and old property.
Among the sales of the latter part OF
the week was the 81. Clair Apartment
House. IN T street. between Seventeenth
and Eighteenth streets northwest. by DR..
/ r. T. Fry 10 Martha Anna Hagan. OF
Philadelphia. The building is on lot
4zxlol feet and IS three stories high, con-
tanning six suites OF rooms OF six rooms
each Connected with the same transac-
/ ton was the transfer 20 Or. Fry OF the
( three-story brick house at 81 Fifth street
northwest. having a frontage Of - feet
+ by 80 feet in depth Both properties Will
I be held as investments
Building Operations Improve.
Building operations have become mo-e
active with the passing Of the year
Notwithstanding the many sales OF
/ houses in all parts of the District. the
supply Is not equal 70 the demand and
/ builders and contractors are casting
about 90 find means 10 erect new houses
/ wherever IL is possible. They are not
waiting for the prices Of material to de-
I crease or for labor troubles 20 disappear
OF financial clouds 10 clear away.
Harry Wardman has begun the con-
/ struction of seventeen new houses al
| Fourteenth and Shepherd streets north
west. 4 new house. estimated TO cost
/ $3.50. has been started at Randolph and
/ Eighth streets northwest. and plans are
/ out for a new apartment house on the
\ triangle formed by New Hampshire ave
/ rue and BrightwoOd avenue northwest In
I fact, al over the northern suburbs build
I ing is either going on at the present time
! OF new projects are forming 70 begin op-
I erations in the spring
TIE better car service provided by tht
/ extension of the Fourteenth and Eleventh
/ street lines has supplemented the crowde,
/ and unsatisfactory conditions that hav,
always prevailed on the Brightwo0d line
I ard home-seekers now find il possible
with a moderate amount of walking. I,
/ get to and from their homes with SONS
/ degree OF comfort and dispatch.
Car Service a Handicap.
This has helped the growth Of IN,
northern part OF the District amazingly
and the Improvement there has only be
gun. II might be nightly augmented bl
better car service on the Brightwood line
but people argue that possibly that vii
come with the reorganization Of IN,
Washington Railway and Electric Com
pany at the meeting Of the stockholder.
set for January Is
The rapid growth of the northern
suburbs is only representative OF mucl
that is going on in other directions wher
the handicap of trolley-car service is no
SO marked Northwest. west. and east
I even beyond the District line into Mary
land, the growth of the city is advancing
( and with improved conditions in tn
I money market, some decrease in the COS
OF materials, and the settlement of thl
labor troubles, building in Washington
/ would be set free. and the city and Dis
trict would have period of building IA
surprising anything il has seen in tn
past.
a..
mel Of investment in Washington. Will
| business. Industry. and trade are comm.
on, they are trailing far in the rear O.
the expansion seen in the development
Of property in the suburbs, the erection
Of new houses, and the establishment o
new values in the taxable basis of tn
District