New Britain herald., 1923-11-09
tcp...d Locally Only By The Herald,.

fSus,sd Locally Only By The Heraldl.
 Wellesley Hills, Mass, Nov D.
 The day of the small house is dawuing
 according to Roger w. BahSon who
 today issued statement on the trend
 of the building industry
 'There is no question that some day
 the cost of building will be much less
 than it is naT--the same as it is now
 about 1S-? 20 per cent less than 1t was
 in 1920" says the statistician. The
 time will come when instead of talk
 ing about the poor tenant, our sym-
 pathies will be enlisted in the cause
 of the landlord. Every student of Fundamental business statistics recoS-
 nizes this situation. The point, how ever. which is important is whether or not this movement will come about suddenly or whether it will be spread
 out over period of years. My own
 studies strongly suggest the longer and more gradual movement. There are two principal reasons:--
 The first is that with all the new dwellings built during the past four years the greater part have been
 priced far out Of reach of the great majority of people. In fact some figures worked out by my organiza- ton show that less than 10 per cent of the people can afford to buy the so-called moderate priced dwelling built today Some, to be sure, have tried to and may get along all right until they strike reverses. The aver age family, however, cannot afford to give more than one weeks pay out of every month for rent. Less than 10 per cent Of the heads of families in the United States make more than $50 a week Check up the cost of the houses built lately in your community and see how many of them can be rented protitahly for less than $50 a month. Hence. when one talks about the saturation point in dwelling houses he must take into account the price zones considered. The saturation at present prices apparently is rapidly being approached, but as soon as an- other , per cent or 20 per cent cut in building costs Is put into effect an en- tircly new group of prospective home owners is reached.
 The next point is that building costs can be reduced when the necessity arises. The only reason prices of building materials and building labor did not decline as much as the aver age Of other things was because the demand was sufficient without it. That is merely the natural working of economic law. No one should be blamed for not charging less than the market price. On the other hand, as necessity arises, the cost of building can and will be cut If prices today were at an irreducible minimum and demand were falling off, there would be more for the building industry to worry about!
 The chance of sudden crash either in building costs or real estate values, therefore, is small. The move- ment on the contrary, will be far more likely to carry out the appear ance of n series Of steps. We had one big step down in 1891. followed 1 by 2 partial advance. Before long another step probably will be in or der. General business as reflected in the Babsonchart Is running at i6 per cent below normal. The idea, how ever. that building values are sudden 1 ly going to drop to pre-war levels | seems as improbable as the view that they will always continue at present l high prices. ]
 "Tt is highly important, however. that those who are interested in new | recognize the trend and work i with it. Tho greatest opportunities l during the coming year will be in lower priced houses not high 1 priced ones. What ismost needed to- | day is a house within reach of the 1 great 90 per cent of prospects. Neces. sity is the mother of invention. Some day we shall probably look back on Inc high cost Of building Of today as the source Of tremendous benefit be- cause Of the economies and improve l mcnts in construction methods it will