Evening star., 1934-10-06
BUILDERS AWAIT
HOUSING AGENCY'S
MORTGAGE RULES
Purchases Delayed Until
Government Reveals Long,
Term Plans.
REALTORS ANXIOUS
TO PREVENT DECLINE
Local Dealers Hope to Report
Best Year Since Depression
Began.
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON.

- 49, w
Prospective purchasers of homes in
Washington and those who would nave
their homes made to order are await
ing the administration of the mutual
mortgage insurance plan OF the FED
eral Housing Administration before
calling out the real estate salesman
or the architect and contractor, ac-
cording to many Capital real estate
authorities, and a study Of recent
building permit lists bears out their
contention.
It has been announced at F. H. A.
that rules and regulations governing
administration of titles 2 and will
be made public by November l, and it
is anticipated that the Government
titanic effort to make the mortgage
burden easier for the home buyer will
get under way shortly afterWard.
More than a skeleton outline Of what
the public may expect from Uncle
Sam in that direction has already been
let out. Enough, in fact, to interest
highly the real estate mans prospect.
and naturally desirous of securing the
best terms possible this would-be nome
owner is awaiting arrival Of the hous-
ing band wagon to get lift.
A large number of persons inter-
ested in securing a home, which they
might also use as a likely investment,
have entered the Offices Of Capital
home builders in recent weeks and
made known their liking for the
terms tentatively set up for the Gov
ernments future venture into the
mortgage world They have explained
to the builders that they will delay
their purchase until titles 2 and s
of the housing act are functioning.
The long terms, with the compare
lively low interest rate, outlined by
the Government will undoubtedly lure
many more into the home market
who had about decided to delay the
purchase to some future date when
so-called prosperity" had returned
or at least until conditions are more
stabilized"
Wait Hurts Business.
Real estate men realize that this
waiting on the part of home buyers
Is injuring their present business and
the opportunity of the Washington
market to ring up the best year since
the depression. They are anxious for
the last half of the housing act to get
underway. During the four or five
months prior to September the busi-
ness of constructing single-family
dwellings here was the best in several
years. However, September instead
of showing considerable improvement
over August, as is normally expected,
revealed more than a half million or
more than 40 per cent decline in
building activity. Some of the decline
was undoubtedly due to extremely poor
weather conditions that prevailed, but
the major portion. if the opinion of
the real estate man is taken, may be
attributed to this waiting for better
terms"
1t might be well to present a pic
ture of this eagerly awaited mutual
mortgage insurance plan as it can
be given at this time:
The main purpose of the act is, of
course, to make funds for home
financing more generally available,
and with increased safety to private
lending agencies In order to &C
complish this the Housing Admins
tration is to set up mutual mortgage
insurance fund, which will insure
home mortgage loans meeting certain
conditions. and held by approved pri-
vate lending institutions.
Funds Assured.
The administration is not author
lied to insure loans prior to the
completion of the dwelling. Never
theless, the program as a whole, in
including a recent amendment to the
Federal reserve act, should assure to
qualified builders a more plentiful
supply of funds for sound construc-
ton purposes.
Before actual construction has be-
gun and arrangements Tor the con-
struction loan made, the prospective
home builder should consult an ap-
proved lending institution and ascer-
tain that, upon completion OF the
building, he will be able to meet the
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