The Washington times., 1908-07-19
Volume of Business Consid-
ering Existing Conditions
Is Remarkable.
RECENT HARD TIMES
is NOT FELT HERE
Trade Outlook, According to Deal
ers, Is Regarded as
Excellent.


mer realty field is nevertheless STIR
ring with motion, and is far from being
in the quiescent state that might have
been expected to result from tho eX-
listing combination of vacatic.. period,
an extreme of hot weather, and what
ever still remains of the general bust
ness depression which the speculative
panic of last year wantonIy left IN its
wake.
The volume OF business which local
real estate dealers are doing just now,
cannot be said 20 be large, but 1t is
entirely satisfactory for this time OF
year. There are even individual in
stances of drms doing business OF a
volume large for any month or week.
~ and although these are exceptions, they
result in raising the average for the
trade as a whole. The outlook is re-
garded as excellent, the basis of Opin-
ion being easier money conditions, con-
tinued alienation of the injury to credit
by the strain of past over-capitaliza-
ton. and the spread of the peculiar
faith held in the investment value o.
real estate in and near the District OF
Columbia.
No Real Money Stringency.
1t is not to be expected that money
will remain continuously easy, but signs
of any such stringency as prevailed dur
ing the last fall and winter are abso-
Iutely lacking. Already have building
operations, for example, begun to show
the result Of the increase in available
supplies of capital. The figures pub
Hshed two days ago of proposed build
ing operations in the District, showed
. an increase of nearly 90 per cent for
June over those of the previous month.
That is, 5s6 building permits were Is
sued, involving an expenditure Of s, 2o3,-
$50, an increase OF S454,6 76 over the fig
ure for May. And as many Of these
projects for buildings involved the pur-
chase of land. it is seen that the real
estate market received a sharp i'm
petus last month. This has continued
its effect into July, making that period
considerably more prcnts Ole than in
previous years.
The reasons are to be found MT only
in the growing public knowledge of the
merits Of real estate, and Of its i'm
pregnability against the attacks Of spec
ulative cHques, but in the reaction Of
public feeling toward the solid earth
as contrasted with such corporate Sc
whose inflated bubbles formerly seemed
to be flied with promise, and not the
air or water which they yielded when
they burst.
The past ten months have marked the
rise and fall Of the wave of fluctuations
the high tide of superficial prosperity
and the ebbing fortunes Of futile specu-
IatiOn. A safe level is fast being reach
cd however chiefly ha~arrsa he a
itself, literally as well as figurativeIy,
is being sought. In other words, the
unshakable firmness of real estate in
vestments, the realty field itself, is
having a steadying effect on the bust
ness world throughout the entire East,
and upon It IS being reared a new COM
mercial structure which in time will
permanently take the place Of the house
OF cards that stood for prosperity a year
ago.
1t happens that this beneficial IN
1uence has proved to be one reacting
on its source, for just as It has strength
ened the general tone Of business, the
Improvement in the latter has in turn
stimulated the real estate market. Add 70
this the desire entertained In many quar-
tiers to choose real estate IN the Nations
Capital, when choosing any, and the
concrete effect here Of the general sit
uation Is seen in the satisfactory condi-
ton Of the local market during the sup
posedly backward season.
Real Estate Dealer Talks.
In this connection it is worthy of note
that the very first man Of a number in
terviewed during the week had this to
say OF the local real estate situation.
He is one of the members Of the United
States Realty Company. He said:
People have been complaining of hard
times, but 1 cannot see how the real
estate market shows the effect OF them
at present. Our own business, anyway.
has picked up wonderfully. Since the
first of January Il has been greater than
during the whole OF :sss year. and the
prospects which have developed during
the past week are better than they were
for the entire thirty-day period pre-
ceding- During the latter part of June
there was a dull spell, but this seems
10 have passed away altogether.
Il have just returned from the west
ern part of Pennsylvania. While there
found general business picking I'D.
and a number of mills which had been
shut down were to start up again the
nth OF July. That was yesterday. This
has greatly encouraged the business
men of that section. 1 would not say
that business conditions are normal as
yet: 1 do not expect they will be until
after November l, anyway. They are
very good for this time of year, how
ever, and continually improving"
Another firm which reports a decided
increase in the activity of the real es-
tate market, as far as its own dealings
are concerned, is the Frank T. R2- wings
Company. This firm has just completed
a number OF deals. large aud small.
which involve a considerable amount Of
money in the aggregate The number of
inquiries made as to possible invest
ments indicates an excellent state Of
the market for this season of the year
The company has a number Of new
deals pending. Its most recent sales in
clude the following:
Rawlings Company Sales.
The property at 1884 d street south
east. sold 10 P. J. Jordan as an invest
ment; the dwelling at 4OS Spruce street
northwest. sold for Fountain Peyton
&c a purchaser who bought for invest
ment the property at so T street