Evening star., 1936-07-11
FAMILY HOMES
HELD IN DEMAND
Constituted 81 Per Cent of
Building This Year, Sur.
vey DiscIoses.

years rise In rents upon the home
building situation are shown this week
by the United States Building and
Loan League in q bulletin to members,
the first data In the current real
estate uptrend to show something
more than generahties with regard to
. influence Of rents upon construction.
The Home Building and Home Own
ing Committee Of the league indi-
Gates that during the first four months
of 1896 one and two family homes
built were not only two and Q fifth
times as numerous as In like period
of last year, but they also constituted
II per cent of all residential building
this year as compared with so per
cent last year.
The emphasis upon the private
dwelling in current building activity
is seen as a direct result of the fact
that rents in this field now show an
average increase Of 10 per cent over
the same period year ago, while
rents In the apartment field have
gained only 8 per cent. Since there
is definite relationship between rents
and the market value Of real estats
this substantial increase In the rent OF
homes has its effect In another di-
rection, that of bringing up the price
of one and two family homes already
built, it Is pointed out by Harold T.
Donaldson, chairman Of the leagues
committee.
Savings, building and loan associa-
tion executives trace the origin Of the
best construction loan demand which
they have seen for seven years to this
same spectacular rise In the rents on
private dwellings. The opinion Is gen.
eral, however, that the effects Of the
rent rise are just beginning to be felt
both in the stimulation of more build.
ing and in the prices Of existing
homes. With plentiful funds at their
disposal the associations are in po-
Eition to finance another doubling OF
home building activity during the next
four months over the activity Of the
last four, MI. Donaldson said.
Tne league committees figures or
rises in rents are confirmed by the
: rental survey of the Mortgage Bankers
Association of America which gives o
breakdown of the data according tc
sections. Mr.. Donaldson points Out
that the rents Of private dwellings show
q much more rapid increase than the
rents in apartments where home build
ing activity in the Spring has been less
than two thirds in the one and two
family group. This condition prevails
In the East and South. In the Middle
west and Mountain and Far West re-
gions where the percentage Of one and
two family homes hovers around 80 OF
more per cent Of all new building there
tends to be a closer parallel between
the rent rises in apartments and In
homes.
Even where there has been such
decided emphasis upon building new
private homes rent rises are anywhere
from 8 to IL per cent over the same
period Of a year ago in both apart
ments and in homes" says the COM
mittee's bulletin. obviously even the
revival In home building during the
current season has made little headway
In hating the rise in rents even If It
has succeeded in some parts in keep
Ing the rise at more moderate degree
than it might otherwise have shown.
Apparently persons renting can antici-
pate few years more of a rising cost
In shelter which can only be Offset by
purchase Of a home at the present be-
ginning Of the upttlrn in market
prices"
Interest Of the savings, building and
loan executives in the rental situation
eenters upon the smaller units Of popu-
lation as well as upon cities, since sew
eral thousand institutions of this type
are located in second, third and fourth
class cities. Because construction has
not made the same progress in cities
under 100000 which it has made in the
larger group rent rises In some Of these
smaller places are expected to be even
larger within the next Is months.
First-class cities did nearly twice the
amount Of residential building this
Spring as did all other cities and towns
put together and yet only 21.2 per cent
of the population of the country lives
In the first-class group, it is recalled.