Evening star., 1925-01-10

itself into building demand as the
economic recovery of American farm
ers, already measurabIy on it's way,
makes farm building construction
possible.
Construction of farm dwellings and
farm buildings has been practically
suspended for the past three years.
An interesting feature of the survey
findings Is the fact that many small
cities report q shortage of apartment
buildings. The ratio of demand to
supply here is very high. Changes in
the standard of living and in the ma
ture of demands for building accom-
modations are factors involved in
constructing an adequate measure of
existing shortage.
Rents ON Increase.
Rents, for the country as a whole,
show a decreasing sterilization. Six
ty-five per cent of the cities report
residential rents as stationary. A
similar survey made by the association
in June, 1924, showed IA per cent of
the cities reporting a stationary con-
dition. Increasing rents are reported
in II per cent of the cities as against
only 10 per cent so reporting in June.
The apparent tendency shown to-
ward higher residential rents may be,
Rents are likely to be on the increase
at the approach of Winter.
Business rents are shown as uni
formly less stable than rents of resi-
Dental property. Nearly half of the
cities, Al per cent, report business
rents increasing, and only Al per cent
give them as stationary.
The most uniform increase in rents,
both in residential rents and rents for
business properties. is reported in the
Southeastern section, where 62 per
cent of the reports indicate rising
residential rents. and IS per cent In
dicate rising business rents. The
most uniform stabilization in resi-
Dental rents is found in the noun
tain section, where IS per cent of the
cities show this condition. The sec
ton also has high proportion of
stabilization in business rents, 81 per
cent of it's cities reporting station
ary condition in this classification.
The highest percentage of stabiliza-
tion in business rentals is shown,
however, in the Central Eastern Sec
ton, where 65 per cent of the cities
indicate no change.
A condition of decreasing residen-
tial rents is reported most strongly
from the North: Central section. Fifty
per cent of the cities of this section so
report. In business rents the cities
of the South Central section show the
greatest proportion of decreases, with
Sc per cent so reporting.
Stability I'm Larger Cities.
Residential rents have become sta
bilized to the largest degree in the
larger cities. Eighty-one per cent of
the cities of over 250.000 population
report such stabilization. Building
shortages reported by cities of this
group in the associations inquiry as
to this side of the real estate market
situation were commonly of only one
type of structure. Apparently the
larger cities are catching up most
quickly with their building needs.
The rent scale is adjusted to the
market more quickly in the larger
than in the smaller cities, and this is
a further factor in creating greater
sterilization here. A striking fea-
ture of the report is the iuctuating
rental market shown in cities under
1000 population. Here the most uni
form increases are shown, and also
the largest percentages of decreases.