Evening star., 1938-06-25
SMALLER CITIES
BUILDING HOMES
Most OF Construction Found
Where Population Is Less
Than 10000.

Business sentiment, as reflected In
peoples willingness to build homes
holds up better in the cities of less
than half a million than it does in the
metropolitan areas. The Home Build
ing and Home Owning Committee OF
the United States Building and Loan
League Ands from its studies of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and of the
construction loan financing by savings
building and loan associations that ap-
proximately "a per cent of the people
who got new homes the first quarter
Of this year lived in cities Of less than
100000, while u per cent of the new
homes built were in cities this size the
previous quarter.
OF all sized cities those between
100000 and 100000 had the greatest
pickup in their proportion of new
one-far1ily homes built, comparing
the two quarters. They accounted for
one out Of every four and a half new
houses in January, February and
March, as compared with one out of
every five in the previous three month
period. There was also a noticeable
increase in the part played by cities
between 2,500 and 5000.
Clarence r Rice, Kansas City. Kans.,
chairman of the leagues committee,
pointed out that about three out of
every five one-family homes built dur
ing the first three months of 1898 were
financed by savings. building and loan
association mortgages. using the
leagues estimates on loans made by
associations and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics which report some $4,000
one-family homes built.
The larger proportion of savings,
building and loan financing is in the
cities Of smaller size" Mr.. Rice pointed
out. 1T is dificult to imagine the
building Of 10000 new homes in the
cities up to $4,000 in population with
cut the availability of savings and loan
funds. This is the estimated number
of new one-family homes in towns OF
this size. It is likely that at least four
out Of five in this group were building
and loan and savings and loan
financed"
Comparing the first quarter Of 1888
with that of the previous year. Mr.
Rice indicated that there were is per
cent fewer one-family homes built
while there were S. per cent more
families provided for in new multi
family dwellings. Thus. for the quar-
Ter there were actually more new
dwelling units built in the multi
family group than in separate homes.
This is in direct contrast to the situ-
alton in 1897 when nearly three times
as many one-family homes we're built
SIS new dwelling units in apartment
style.
1T Is important that the trend for
building fewer one-family homes than
apartments halt in the interest of pre-
serving our interest in home owner
ship" Mr.. Rice continued While
we would not at the present time wish
to discourage building multi-family
dwellings at time when We are ap-
parently in need of some new housing
OF all types, the building of one-family
homes should certainly keep up with
that in the other field.
Likelihood that this will develop
as the year goes along is seen in the
emphasis which the thrift and home
financing institutions are placing on
construction loans. The most practi-
cal step about to be taken in this
direction Is the creation Of q manual
on construction loan procedure which
is the first thing of its kind ever made
available to community lending insti-
tutions and Is designed to encourage
many institutions which have not
done q bulk of this type Of business
TO make it their principal source of
loans for home owners from now on"