Evening star., 1936-05-09
BUILDING LOANS
HIT PEAK FOR So
More Mortgage Money Is
Disbursed in Six Months
Than All of 1884.

Disbursing mortgage money to $4,000
families for a total of $s1, 900 900 dur
ing March, the savings, building and
loan associations of the country
stepped into their highest activity
since October and sent their past six
months total of lending activity to
S483 ,906 900, more than the total for
the entire II months of 1884.
The statistics come from the United
States Building and Loan League, ma
tional organization of the $500, ,o0o,-
600 business which these institutions
constitute in the aggregate. The ma
tional estimate is made on the basis of
reports from fully third of all build
ing and loan resources, according to
Morton Bodflsh, executive vice preSi-
dent.
March lending activities were 19 per
cent higher than those of February as
to dollar volume, with some 5000 more
families receiving the funds than in
. the previous month. Important fac
tors in the increase included loans for
construction of new one and two fam
lily homes, up 49 per cent, accounting
for the financing of some $500 new
houses, with a total volume of ST.
$4,000 in mortgage money.
Repair Loans Gain.
Repair and modernization loans were
higher than at any time since Novem-
Der and gained 68 per cent in volume
over February. Loans to assist in the
purchase of existing home properties
were above February and highest for
this classification since October, but
did not show the spectacular gain wit
messed in construction and repair
loans. Opening up of Spring is, Of
course, accountable for the reviving
activity in the financing Of these lat
ter undertakings.
The figures of the last quarter Of
1885 and the first of 1886 evidence a
degree Of expansion in loan activity
by the associations which was totally
unpredictable year ago." said Bod
fish. These six months of late Fall
and Winter are conspicuously poor
lending months in the chronicles of
association operation. Yet during this
the disbursement of funds rose to
$20,o00,000 more than the aggregate
loans during the full year 1894. Should
lending continue at this rate, and even
should it not take the usual upward
trend during the later Spring and
Summer months, there can be little
doubt that the associations will reach
nf
$4,000 Families Borrow.
Bodfsh reported that about 232 900
families had borrowed from the as
sociations on their long-term, monthly
repayment loan plan during the six
months ended March 81. OF these
chase of homes, some $4,000 to repair
and modernize and $4,000 to build new
structures.
A breakdown of the March lending
activity of the associations as to pur-
pose of the loans shows reflnancing
still the most important single factor
In current mortgage lending, with
home purchases rapidly approaching
1t in importance. Ref1nancing loans,
representing the transfer of an exist
Ing mortgage held elsewhere to the
books of a savings and loan institu-
ton, accounted for 27.o1 per cent of
tn" March loans, while purchase loans
were 26.19 per cent and new con-
struction accounted for 22.09 per cent
of the volume. The breakdown is as
follows:
Purpose of loan. Volume of loans.
New construction --- Sl7,887, 900
Repair and modernization- 5,575, 900
Refinancing ---------- 21,877,OO0
Purchase ------------- 21,211,OOO
Other purposes ------ 14,44O, 900
Total s90 oon nm