The New York herald., 1922-05-07

called SNOWFALL strikes. when the work.
ers on particular jobs. without any au-
thority from their union, demand in
creases over the accepted wage scale on
the threat that they will leave the
builder fiat.
"The wage scale for brlcklayers in 50
a day. On certain jobs in Westchester
bricklayers and masons are getting
bonuses that will bring their daily in
comes up to $11 and $12 day.
"As the prices of labor and material
go up the building movement will abate
1 figure that there will be a decided
check to the impetus this summer. Then
building will languish for while, labor
will be less autocratic, material prices
will go lower and things will start up
again. In other words, the building
boom will, 1 believe. proceed In a series
Of waves. apathy following intensity.
Price May Drop One-third.
'At this rate it will be at least three
and perhaps five years before the price
of suburban properties will show any
Definite or decided response When the
boom finally has accomplished its pur-
pose or supplying the necessary demand,
houses now selling for say $4,000 may
bring $4,000. or even as low as $4,000
In the meantime there is a gradual
read1ustment OF prices and a tendency
on the part of buyers to accept condi-
lions During the last week or so we
soiu quite few properties ranging from
Slo,VoV TO $4,000 in price. OF course. the
great demand to-day is for houses from
Shooo to $4,000. and one can sell more
properties in this grade than in any
otner, for tho same reason that one can
sell more butter at 25 cents a mound
than at so cents.
unfortunately there are few avail
able houses in the suburban area sell
Ing Tor 1880 or thereabouts TODAY and
most or those are of the bungalow type
IN iact' they are so scarce that one can
almost eliminate them from considera-
.ioh. Inc chief demand. then, is for
20 ao, ues carving prices of between
$4,000 and $4,000. Even with the sn,rit
or cautiousness prevailing among tbe
buyers the call for these houses fo-dav
districts. AZ certain
Is such a property purchased TODAY
good investment? That ALI danands
on what your idea of an Investment is
II you mean investing in a homa !
should most certainly answer in the
affirmative for that means taking into
consideration the amount you save IN
rents while the cost of living space js
SIN high In the city. 1t also mean,
lnat IN new housing purchased now Won
a.e aiso enjoying the reduction in over.
the tax exemption ordinance for Tho ~,
ten years.
investment Not to he Lost.
Last, but not least. It also roeon,
that while your property Is li,salv -
snake off some Of its present yah,s
within the next three or four or five
years the purchasing power of your
money In the housing field ia also in.
creasing. az
In other words II you should be nm.
fortunate enough to buy house TO-DAY
ior Sio'o00 and sell 1t three years from
now for $4,000 you can at least 90 on,
and with your $4,000 buy another home
just as good. In the meantime Won have
saved rent
'As Tor investing In suburban houses
on purely speculative basis, that is
something which I have never recon.
nended. At time like this 1t Is
especiaiiy lnadvisable. That is nowhere
SO apparent as in the fact that even the
speculative suburban builder. tbe n,an
who put up rows of houses and sells
them individually. has more or less
Withdrawn from the field for the tjme
being. 'i'A'e
Houses are for the most part nut ur
Dy hdividual builders to-day. At least
that is true In Westchester and he.
heve on Long Island Even in such
popular home sections of New Jersey as
the Oranges and Montclair the private
nome builder Is doing practically all the
work. A ''''
There Is also fair demand to-da,
@ ior properties bringing from $4,000 t.
szo'oV each, but I shouldn't say thai
the market for houses of his tyne 1,
very active. Young married couple.
from wealthy homes can be relied or
to furnish a great part of the demanl
for properties In this class.
Call for Big Estates Slight
"The call for houses selling for s.o
ooo or over is always light comparet
with the bulk of the selling under tha.
figure. During the 1920 home rush ther,
was a somewhat feverish market 70,
expensive properties. but that wa,
largely because of the fortunes tha
were being made and had been mad,
during the war.
The war millionafres locked into tht
market. and estates ranging In valu,
from $4,000 into the seven cipher cIas,
! changed ownership with a rapidity that
made one dizzy. But those were mo-
normal times and nd sensible mar
would wish for their return. There Is
an added deterrent for the sharp fall.
Ing off in sales over $4,000 to-day
and that is to be found in the genera
sluggishness In the business and indus.
trial field
For properties valued at se0e 900 and
over / have not found much of a mar.
ct. You can advertise your head of
and still the prospects keep themselves
nodestly In the background. However
the demand for properties under th,
$4,000 class Is on the whole pretty
good. 1t is not all that one might ex.
pect from the general economic sltua.
ton, but there are certain definite eIe.
ments that justify optimism and they
revolve around the great amount OF
interest that 'is being shown in the
purchase OF country homes
only recently we issued a bookle
describing certain houses that we hav,
for sale and inserted a little readinr
advertisement In agate type In the news.
papers. That little advertisement
brought 900 applications for the book.
let. To my mind nothing could be more
significant than that.
Forced Buying Ended.
"Yes. there Is a big market for subur.
ban properties underway. but It Is going
to be unlike the heavy buying period
that we passed through recently. II