The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-20
HHB REAL ESTATE MARKET
PLENTY az CAPITAL GOING
INFO me- SINESS SITES.
MeRehanas ana Nsanafa eturcga Are muysnw
New auaPscrs- -spas - Town G earegnc
FaeteF in the DesnaRss New Do
Sesouaseas an the FIssh ANeaue sestaom

the rial estate market. Tho number al
salpe ran ahead of that for tho correspond
ing period yeaT ago. when everybody
vas marVclltng at the extent Of the ac-
tivity under way Besides the average
transaction reported last weeh Wa larger
than that Of wear ago. In the sprinR II
1910 II was chiefly building sites that were
dealt IN and the market was for the most
part q speculative market Al the present
time the demand for improved realty 10
better than IL has been in years and a
very considerable proportion 81 the bay
ere are business iiTms-retail and whole
salo houses. insurance companies. pub
hshsrs and manufacturing concNrns
The trading extends 60 every ianporsant
section Of the town and IL well balanced
90 between speculative and investment
buying. u 10 no doubt accounted Tor in
large measure by the pressure Of Z liberal
supply OF capital seek ing Investment in
mortgage loans But 10 would he a mis-
take TO assume that cheap money 10 the
sole cause % the movement in real ESTATE
Merchants and manufacturers do not pur-
chase expensive quarters unless they are
pretty certain where tho earnings are To
cospe from that are needed 20 pay the
maintenance charges on heAvily taxed
real estate
The fact appears To he that deapite
unfaVorable infercnces drawn from the
STOCK market. commerce and industry
are In a normally prosperous state. with
excellent prospects for the immediate
future. The stock market n tradition
ally accepted ~ an index to general
business conditions. However. its accu-
racy IA n trade barometer has uadOubt-
eddy been impaired through the remark
ss.s development Of the mortgage loan
market in recent years
Az present. for the FIRST time after any
major panic guaranteed mortgages and
mortgage certificates OG small demon
nation are sold throughout the COUNTRY
by title insurance companies Of the highest
financial standing. To-day the small
investor in North Dakota or IN Maine
h able To buy at local ONCE q 500 mort
gage certificate issued by a New York
titls Insurance company OF national
reputation. He may pay for this Ger
tificafe on the instalrnent plan and his
investment will net him 4 per cent. per
annum. IL he has q substantial sum OF
money in hand he may buy al the same
local branch office or through the mad
o guaranteed mortgage for cash which
viii net him s1s to per cent. per annum
When such rates OF income a. these
are offered nv new securities equal in
stability TO Government bonds Il il easy
90 understand Why even az their pres
eni quotations stock market securities
tail 10 attract the average investor
90 the extent which they have ALWAYS
heretofoTe done after a nanic. The
facilities for credit investment have
been revoiuitoni2ed by the tremendous
grow th OF the title insurance business
not only in New York but throughout the
country.
Under these circumstances the stock
n@arket Ia unquestionably less responsive
O. trade Improvement than il was for
merry. At any rate the doubt and hesi-
tation observed there IN not reAe~ted
IN the market for business real estate.
In such rcal estate there n Just now q
genuine speculative boom. supported NV
lively demand on the part Of business
houses for new or enlarged quarters
Indeed not a few observers are he
ginning 10 question whether rhe supply
OF mercantile housing that IL being pro
vided IN the midtown ssartIon the Chtef
seat OF speculative building will NOT
eXceed the probable requirements for
Sofne time TO come. However the rate
AZ which the new housing - being rented
or sold outright dOes not Sestu 90 Indicate
that the danger point has been reached A.
yet
The supply. no doubt. appears tn ba
much larger Than ~ really IL. The new
housing IL by no means a net gain. a. every
building put up NOWADAYS in the midi own
district occupies site that has been
cleared Of EubuantIai - rtIctures. not
infrequen,ly elevator buildings of CON
siderable height
Resides. New York 10 coming 20 be more
and mOre a national distri buting centr
and - drawing 10 Itself a constantly ir-
creasing number of large and successful
out ~ town business houses. Its power
to attract out ot town concerns depends
Of course largely upon the cost " doing
business here and the chief element in
this cost ~ rent
FOR a great many wears 10 has heen the
good fortune OF this town that net rents
above the ground hoor have tended To
decline. The money rent may not always
be lees. but u invariably buys more con
venienceS The decline IN rent has en-
couragcd Investigation u wholesale
ho,lses and manufacturers This in turn
has increased the density Of street traffic.
bringing not only a larger local day popu.
IArion but larger influx 81 buyers. all
OF which has reacted on the value Of ground
floor stores.
In other words paradOxlcal az u may
seem. = moderate decline in lott rents
tends To increase land values. and the
interests Of property owners az veil as
Of the city az a whole are heri served by
the sort ~ speculative building that "
now under way IN the midtown district.
In any event the new balldinys are
filIing up and hr-iing buyers IN sufficient
nnn hers to show that the supply 10 not
~ yet excessive.
One OF the HCst interesting develop
mepia Of the week In this lively section
Of the town was a transaction by which
the old time exclusive Residences on the
block on the east side Of Fifth avenue
between Fifty-siGth and Fifty-seventh
streets s'Iccunbed 10 he pressure OF
trade
The block front 10 ocrupt~d by three
houses owned by the Aston estate AZ the
northeast corner Of Fifty-siKt street
and the residence IL Mrs. Coils 2. Hunt
ington The corner house 81 the three
owned by thu Astors was taken last week
by Duveen Bros. art dealers, now az 80
Fifth avenue.
The changes Of the last year have
steadily crowded residences Oh OF upper
Fifth avenue 4 few months ago the
composition for business sites made
Il NJ