The Washington times., 1911-07-08
Activity Shown by Amount
of Business in Record
ing of Deeds.
HIGH WATER MARK
REACHED IN JUNE
Number of Papers Recorded Dur
ing That Month Was Highest in
History of Office.

The fiscal year 1911. which ended July
l, witnessed the greatest activity in
real estate ever known in the District
of Columbia, II the volume of business
done in the office of the Recorder of
Deeds Is to be taken as a criterion.
The number of papers. affecting the
transfer Of real estate recorded in the
twelve months just closed, reached a
total Of 25,236, and caused 1911 to dis
place the fiscal year 1910, as the banner
year in the history Of the office
A review of the records of the Re-
corder of Deeds office for the past
fiscal year discloses that the receipts
OF the office also broke all previous
records, reaching a total of $43, 437. 80. BY
curtailtng the expenses of the office to
the extent of S157.59. the Recorder was
able to show net resource Of sl2, 1868
an increase of S60O.O7 over the figures
for 1910 Out Of this sum, twenty-five
new book typewriters were purchased
by direction of Congress at a cost of
sS,SsS.5O, leaving a balance Of ss,0s2s 81
deposited in the Treasury Of the Uni
ted States to the credit of the District
of Columbia.
1ne Figures by Months.
AS showing a healthy gain in busi-
ness throughout the fiscal year. the
figures by months are interesting. In
July. 1910, there were recorded 1,s24 pa
pers; August. 1899; September, 1909.
October, 2,l93: November, 2,12s; Decem-
Der, 900; January, 1911, 1,77O: February.
l,I97; March, 1854: April, 227; Nav.
2, i66; June, 2,48s. The last was the high
est number ever recorded in one month
in the office.
A decided slump in every branch Of
the real estate business is shown by n
review Of the weeks activities. The
abbreviated week due to the obsrv-
ance of the Independence Day holiday
played large part in the result. but no
mean factor in the decline of activity
or the week was the torrid weather,
which one broker characterized as too
hot to even talk property"
The number of sales closed the frst
three days of the week was surprising
ly small. but business looked I'D" on
Thursday and Friday quite consider
ably. As a result OF the activity Of
these two days, ffty-eight sales were
closed and the weeks record for trans
actions was brought up to lis. A total
or NJ lots were involved in the busi-
ness of the week.
The sale by Sidney Bieber Of five
squares of ground along the southeast
water front, between Seventeenth and
streets, brought the south
eastern section of the city to first place
in the weeks record of lots sold with a
total Of fifty-six. The outlying subdi-
visions and the near-Urban district ran
a dead heat for second place. Each sec
ton reported the transfer of forty
four parcels of real estate.
The northeastern section came next
with thirty-1ve lots conveyed, followed
by the northwest-the customary lead
ty-nine lots sold. There were nine lots
in the southwest.
Interest Rate Goes Down.
In the general slump in the market.
even the interest rate was carried down
and the weeks computation shows the
average rate at 5.4 per cent. one point
below the figures of the preceding
weeks.
The total of loans this week is only
s3S1, ,s99Oj. borrowed on the security of
l77 lots.
Straight loans led the market with a
total of $1S4. SO. but the sum of notes
given for deferred purchase money was
not So far behind. This amount was
s136.51.S. The output Of the building
associations was $4,000. More than half
he money was borrowed on the secur-
holdings borrowed S19S, ,23J o. The Forth
west was second with S1W 604
The southeastern section was promi-
nent also in the money market, and its
oans reached Ss1, 800. The total in the
northeastern section was SS0,960 In the
uauf { hnrTnUed