Evening star., 1936-05-26
BUILDING INDEX
SETS FAST PACE
Residential Construction Is
96.8 Per Cent Greater in
April Than Year Ago.
BY GEORGE T. HUGHES.


NEW YORK. May 26.-No other set
Of business indices makes more i'm
pressive showing than those connected
with construction. It has just been
announced by the Bureau OF Labor
statistics that new residential building
was 96.8 per cent greater In value dur
ing April this year than In the same
month q year ago. The total amount
involved was the greatest In five years.
Residential building permits this
April were up 15.5 per cent over March.
Compared with April year ago, new
non-residential construction was up
SIT per cent. while additions. altera-
tions and repairs were up as per cent.
These figures only confirm the trend
revealed in the March reports and
have turned the attention Of Wall
Street to the stocks Of those corpora
ions which stand to benrfit from this
revival in the construction field. So
far, there has been only minute re-
sponse, but it has been noticeable that,
during the recent reaction, shares OF
companies in this group displayed
more than average resistance.
Survey Shows Shortage.
One Of the largest wire houses (E. r.
Hutton g. Co.. has just sent out sur
vey of the building situation to its
clients. The analysis points out that.
notwithstanding q 90 per cent gain In
1885 on the year, residential building
during those IL months was only 10
per cent Of the 1925-29 average.
Construction last year was not
nearly sufficient to provide for one
years normal needs, to say nothing Of
reducing the shortage accumulated
since 1880. 1t is further pointed out
that, even is residential building in
creases 100 per cent this year, the vol
ume will be only about one-third OF
that expected by building authorities
at the peak of the cycle.
The eventual outbreak Of a boom
appears inevitable" the Review con-
tinues. Such strong underlying
forces are at work that their triumph
over obstacles appears to involve only
a matter of time"
Committee FavOrs View.
Along the same line is the optim-
istic view taken by the Real Estate
Securities Committee of the Invest
ment Bankers Association Of Amer
lea. This committee, after a survey
OF the construction field on a national
basis, says that given an increase oi
from 10 to Is per cent in general
business activity, the continuing OF
easy money, and no material changes
in real estate taxes, 1t is reasonable
TO expect further improvement In
real estate values. especially moderate.
ly priced suburban residential prop.
erty."
Prices Continue Sag.
Commodity prices continue to sag
Out of "a staples, IL made their low
prices of the year in the New York
wholesale market this month. They
were wheat, corn, rye, oats. butter
pork, beef. antimony, tin. print cloth
and silk. Only two set new high
marks coffee and cocoa.
Perhaps this showing is not as sig.
nificant as would appear, for the lows
are predominantly agriculture prod.
ucts. The Fisher index number thi.
week, however, made new low since
January, 1885, at S05 on a basis oi
par for the 1926 averages. It wa,
this downward trend in commodities
which contributed toward the bearist
feeling on the stock exchange.
The French franc hovers arounc
the gold point. In general, both
financial and political news from
abroad is unfavorable. Yet, foreign
affairs do not receive much attention
The two topics Of interest are the
technical position of stocks and the
business outlook. Business at leas,
is good.
tCopyrisht, 1885. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc)