The Washington times., 1913-12-27
REALTY SALES CUT .
BY XMAS SHOPPING
Brokers Had Only Four Working
Days in the Week and
Transactions Were Few.

Realty trading was eclipsed this week
by Christmas shopping. While real es-
tate is most useful, it appears not to
have been used extensively as a me-
dunn of exchanging the felicitations Of
the season this year. Selling was al
most a negligible quantity.
Investors, spectators and brokers
alike were engrossed in gift-purchasing,
and the closing of a realty transaction
involved no little effort. with Christmas
Day, the balf-holiday on the eve of the
festival, and the Saturday thaif-holiday
taken out of the week, ,thel brokers had
practically four days only in which to
work. The result of their efforts in this
much abbreviated week was IS transac-
tons, in which were involved 139 lots
and parcels of real estate,
While this record shows a marked
falling off from the business of the pre-
eeding week. it is in keeping with the
lack of activity displayed in the cor
responding week of former years.
Christmas week in 1872 saw 1o4 sales
completed, and in 1911 the record of
sales for the week, including Christmas,
was 33.
Better Than Last Year.
The business of Christmas Eve this
year was slightly in advance of the
corresponding day in 49,. Last wednes-
day, when the office OF the Recorder of
Deeds closed at noon, itnere had been
fled ten transfers OF real estate. De-
cember a, 1912, saw only eight sales
reported. In 1911 the! low mark was
only eight sales were made. December
a, 19l3 witnessed just twice that num-
Der Of transactions. sixteen sales being
recorded yesterday.
The highest number, Of sales made in
any day this week was twenty-three.
BY coincidence, this number was filed
Tuesday. December g Monday ranked
second, with twenty-one trades effected
Friday was third, having sixteen deals
to its credit. There, were fifteen sales
completed on Saturdays half-hoilday.
and at the noon closing of the record
Office on Wednesday eight sales had
been reported
Deals In Suburbs.
The outlying suburbs returned this
week to the lead of the market, al
though they were hut little in advance
Of the near-urban district. The former
Was the scene of forty-seven parcels
conveyed, while forty-five lots changed
owners IN the latter section. The north
west section was in third place, with
twentystwo lots transferred. There
were fourteen lots sold In the south
east, six in the southwest, and iive In
the northeast
There We're no, tsales of large con-
sideration reported this week. But few
business properties figured In the week.s
IRnMers Building sites and improved
residential property constituted the buIt
Of what little tnadjng occurred during
the past six days.
Harry Abrahamson invested $4,000 in
I4e purchase OF the southwest corner of
Seventh and L streets northwest In
Guided in the SALE, which was made by
James H. Becker and others through
leopold Batmgarten. were stores and
premises 1872 ,and 1904 Seventh street
and 7oe I Street northwest.
fne Gibson property at the south
east cornsr of Thirteenth street and
Pennsylvapia. avenue northwest known
As 12ss Pennsylvania avenus figured in
Gibson seld. out his interest in the
property tofhis sisters. Bertha w. Hud-
son and. Flora NJ. Gibson. The price
Is not mentioned
Weak Loan Market.
The lean market also experienced a
week Of infctivity. There was decline
Of nearly 20 per cent from the business
of the tprfceding week. The exact fig
ures Of the weeks loans were S3ei O5s.S4
This ssum'was borrowed on the security
of l2a,lots at an average Interest rate
of 5.1 per cent.
StrEglt loans constituted a little more
thsHfhStf the. total, showing an aggre-
sStefoa s1so,5l.os. The sum Of all the
aotse given for deferred purchase
moteyi was So. .2s7.5S. The output Of the
nufBdi4g associations was s5i.z5o.
,9pu1ty property won the lead as the
oeEs for loan security this week. Loans
teSalifg $14l, 1854 were made on prop
srty outside the old city limits. Land
nj the northwest was encountered to
de Sxtent of s1f2. .E75. The record of
lSnnt In the other city sections was:
northeast, s3o.25o: southeast, S0,5oo, and
southwest. $500. Il