Evening star., 1937-05-15
REALTY SESSION
FIGHTS TAX AND
COSTSPR0BLEMS
rs D. C. Delegates Partici.
pate In Mid.At|antic
Convention.
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON,

: NEW YORK, May l5.-Highly op-
ttmistic regarding the future Of their
industry in the East, 800 realtors,
gathered here for the First Middle
Atlantic Regional Convention Of the
National Association Of Real Estate
Boards, prepared today to bring the
two-day meeting to close. Approx
imately Is delegates from Washington
participated in the sessions which be-
gan yesterday.
Two deterrents to progress IN the
real estate and building field were
viewed with considerable alarm by
convention spokesmen. These are
rapidly rising construction costs and
the tendency in many sections to
shift an unfair portion Of the tax
load onto real estate. One speaker
declared that the cost of erecting a
home has risen II per cent in the
last year. This, he said, has slowed
home building in some localities.
Builders were warned to purchase ma
terials early, as they are faced with
the likelihood Of an even greater in
crease In costs in the next IL months.
As weapon to battle rising con-
struction costs, the board Of directors
Of the national association, meeting
In conjunction with the regional group,
approved formation OF the Home
Builders Guild. The new group, an
organization within the associations
land developers and home builders
division, will seek through cooperative
effort to lower the cost of construc-
tion and so to lower the cost of home
ownership to the purchaser. The
group hopes to work with manufac-
turers Of building materials to attack
the problem Of minimizing distribution
costs and make possible the advances
In manufacturing and design that
can be brought about only through
iArge-scale use.
New Guild President.
Charles S. Wanless, Springfield, Ill,
was named president of the new guild.
It's governing council OF six includes
Waverly Taylor, prominent Washing
ton builder; j. c. Nichols, Kansas
City, Mo-, member OF the National
Capital Park and Planning Commis-
sion. and John McC. Mowbray Of
Baltimore Membership in the guild
will be restricted to builders who have
gained public confidence and whose
products can be relied upon.
Morton J. Luchs, acting president
Of the Washington Real Estate Board,
addressed the convention yesterday
On activities of realtors in the Capital.
He criticized Congress for failure to
provide . sufncient Federal contribu-
ton to the District, and slapped at
the Jacobs fiscal relations report for
failure to present real facts" Re-
garding tax conditions in the Dis
trict, Luchs explained the real estate
license law the board is attempting
70 get through Congress. He said it
possibly will be enacted this session,
after IL years Of failure.
Luchs declared that private in
dustry is better qualified and equipped
to handle the low-cost housing prob
lem than the Federal Government.
He cited Resettlement Administra-
tons Green Belt and P. w AS de-
velopment at Benn!ng as examples Of
delay and high cost with which the
Government Is always faced when 1t
enters the housing field.
Charles J. Rush, secretary of the
Washington Board, addressed the del
egates on the operation Of the social
security act and its effect on the
average real estate office.
Joseph w. Catharine, Brooklyn,
vice president Of the National Asso-
ciation for the Middle Atlantic
Region, hailed increasing real estate
values and income as signs OF great
recovery for the industry He esti-
mated that only 3 per cent OF resi-
Dental units in the area are vacant.
He said it will be necessary to build
100000 dwellings year in the coun-
try for the next five years II an acute
housing shortage Is to be avoided.
Warns Of Cost Increase.
Like other speakers, he warned
realtors Of increasing construction
costs. He said costs are back at the
1929 level, and were less than three
points lower than the level of 1926,
which was the highest in the history
Of the country. On the whole, how
ever, his picture for the future of
the real estate industry was highly
optimistic. Catharine praised work
Of the Federal Housing Administra-
ton.
Paul Stark, Madison. Wis, president
Of the national association, told the
realtors that many forces are at
work acting to destroy the value when
homes are built. AS part Of the
whole national objective to make good
(See REALTY, Page C-2)