Evening star., 1937-12-18
SURVEYOR MARKET
IN HOUSING POINTS
WAY FOR BUILDERS
Shows That Families of
$1,000 and Up Class Want
Cheaper Quarters.
2,036,5 ,588 DWELLING
UNITS BEHIND 1880
Report of Committee Shows Need
Of 1,503,s53 a Year to Catch
>' Up by 1910.

The intensive study of the housing
market made public this week by the
National Housing Committee should
prove both enlightening and helpful
to the entire home building industry.
1t indicates clearly widespread shift
from the boom times of the late 1920s
IN the price range of homes the mass
OF the public is demanding
One important fact brought out by
the committees study is that families
, receiving incomes of $4,000 or more
q year are showing unwillingness to
pay as large a proportion of their in
come for housing as they did in 1929
This Is brought out by the fact that
while the number of families receiving
incomes of $4,000 or over has in
creased in the last four years the
number paying $50 or more for hous-
Ing has decreased over the same Pc
riod. Naturally, this development in
creases the demand for, lower-priced
homes and narrows greatly the market
for the type of houses which have
been built most generally here and in
other cities in the last three years.
Points Way for Builders.
The home builder always has oper-
ated with less knowledge of his market
than the producer in any other great
industry. This, of course, is due
largely to the fact that the home
building industry is composed of thou
sands of comparatively small builders
whose operations cover very limited
area of community. 1t was the OBJ
Ject of the committee in making its
survey to supply builders with the
proper knowledge of market and
thereby furnish direction for their ac-
tivities.
The survey analyzed housing needs
on a regional basis and estimated that
the country has fallen behind 1880
standards by 2,036,588 dwelling units
Moreover, allowing 4S5,574 new units
year for normal requirements and
population growth, it would be neces-
sary to build at the rate of 1,5O3,853
units year for the next two years
to overcome the shortage by 1910.
That construction is tagging in the
recovery movement is emphasized by
the fact that while industrial pro-
duction as whole is over 80 per cent
OF the 1s25-1930 average, home build
ing is now only "a per cent of the
average for the same years.
$50 Rent Glass.
Some points brought out in the
market survey follow:
/. All Of the 100000 new dwell
ing units needed to bring the coun-
try up to the housing standards of
1880 are required for the group paying
$50 or less month for rent or rent
equivalent (probable rental income of
owner-occupied dwellings,.
2. OF the 485, 900 new units needed
annually for normal expansion and
replacement during the next two
years, 321, 900 would be for the income
groups paying $50 or less a month;
114,000 for those paying between $50
and $50, and $4,000 for those paying
$50 or more.
8. During the years 1930-1937 the
industry built an average of 175,875
dwelling units per year. OF this num-
Der, 29,195 units cost $4,000 or less;
56,456 cost $4,000 to $4,000, and 90,224
cost $1,000 or more.
{ 4. From 1888 to 1885 the number of
families receiving incomes of $4,000 or
more year did not increase as fast as
- (See SURVEY. Page B-3