Evening star., 1936-11-28
PAY RAISES SEEN
OWNERSHIP SPUR
Extra Dividends Also Ex.
pected to Put Thousands
in Home Class.

The outpouring of a half to three
quarters Of q billion dollars IN extra
dividends and wages by American
business will give boost to new home
ownership undertakings in 1887 which
had not been counted upon In pre-
vious estimates Of the coming years
activity.
This is pointed out by Harold T.
Donaldson, Lansing, Mich, president
OF the United States Building and
Loan League, who sees that the psy-
Geological as well as the financial
effects of these developments will
bring new families into the market
for residential property. He feels it
likely that the larger effect will be
felt in home buying rather than in
building, since existing homes are
still the bargain counter in the home
ownership market.
The league president holds that
economic improvements in terms of
increasing dividends on spectacular
scale and mass movements in pay
raises are the only prosperity wit
nesses which have much effect on the
buying and spending habits OF the
great mass Of people.
Extra Money Talks.
Carefully worked out charts OF
business improvements in terms OF
composite indexes seldom have any
thing to do with the average family's
decision to buy home or an auto
mobile or even a new radio" DON
aldson emphasized. There is 100
per cent truth in the adage that
money talks and the extra money
about to be poured out into the
hands of millions during the coming
months Is the most influential Ian.
guage in goading people on to recov-
cry stride in their personal money
management.
THE comparatively large volume Of
unacceptable loan applications which
the savings, building and loan as
sociations and other mortgage lenders
have been receiving since they began
to make known their volume Of avail.
able funds may be expected to de-
crease in the coming months, with
the elevation of many thousands Of
new families to positions where they
are able to undertake home buying
or building.
Two Main Factors.
"The ineligibility of these appli-
eants has been due to two main fac
tors, the lack of reasonable proba-
bility that they would be able to carry
the debt out of their predictable in
come and their need for 100 per cent
financing because of the lack Of any
down payment worthy of the name.
In thousands of cases extra dividend
receipts will help make the down
payment possible, because we must
always bear in mind that much Of
. the corporate stock which is showing
itself more productive today is held
in comparatively small blocks by per-
sons of decidedly modest means. OF
course, even more important in rails
ing the expectancy of future ability
to carry out the home ownership con-
tract is the movement toward in
creased income for work done.
The bargain counter still consists
in the houses ranging from to IS
years in age. which were well built
and can still be bought for less than
their cost of construction, Houses
built in 1929 and 1880, whose builders
abandoned them to the mortgagor as
the depression became more dis
couraging, because they themselves
did not have enough equity to make
them feel the struggle to hold on
worth while, constitute what is prob
ably the largest group of values to
be found anywhere on the market
because Of their relative newness and
comparative low price. In many COM
munities where wage increases oc-
Cured earlier than for the Nation
aS . whole all such homes have Al
ready been acquired by new pur-
ehasers."