Evening star., 1940-01-06
Construction
In D. {. Best
Since 1923
$38,6l9,876 Total
For '39 Shows Years
Gain Of $4,000, 900
By JAMES Y. NEWTON.

The District last year enjoyed its
best construction year since 1928,
while there were more residential
units erected in the metropolitan
area in 1899 than in any similar
period in Washington's history. A
'boom' in the low cost field. both
for house and apartments. was re-
sponsible for the new record
Valuation of all types of private
construction in the District proper
for 1899 totaled $38,619,876. an in
crease of more than Sl3,OOO,000 over
1898, and $7500,0OO higher than the
previous post-depression record es-
tablished in 1887. The low point of
the depression was reached here in
1888 when the construction volume
slumped to $6,636,590. The figure
for 1928 was $51,255,O 900. This was
one of the greatest building years
in the Capitals history. and the huge
total was due principally to boom"
In commercial construction.
Homes for $4,000 Persons.
During 1889 permits were issued
for 3.679 one-family dwellings, COM
pared to 2,ll7 included in the 1898
list of permits, which was the pre-
vious high since the depression in
residential building was broken here
1t is estimated than an equally large
number of new homes were built last
year in nearby sections of Virginia
and Maryland, where all-time con-
struction marks were set.
New apartment buildings erected
last year in the District have Ca
pacity of 1925 families. bringing
the total number of family dwelling
units to be built here in the l2-
month period to 5,9O4 Real estate
men estimate that about 10000
family dwelling units were erected
last year in the Washington metro
politan area. This means that liv-
ing quarters were supplied here for
approximately $4,000 persons within
Q year
October was the big building
month of 1899. During that period
private construction was valued at
$7,500000. A permit was issued in
october for the Lafayette build
ing. which when completed next
summer or fall will be the largest
private Office structure in the city.
Easy Financing Credited.
Financing facilities that are more
favorable to the buyer of the small
home was the principal reason why
1889 was a great year in the city's
real estate history. Persons who
had dreamed for years of owning
their own homes suddenly realized
that houses were being built by
private enterprise which they could
purchase without exceeding their
budgets. There was one firm in
nearby Virginia which started 200
homes almost simultaneously, and
sold them within short time Sales
managers found that selling homes
in the $4,000 to $4,000 range was
more a question of order taking
than salesmanship. Further iber-
alization of the F. H. AS financing
plan was largely responsible for the
low-cost BOOM"
Sale of real estate both in the
District and environs last year kept
we'll abreast of construction. Many
offices reported record years for sales.
A peculiar thing about sales last
year was that buying of property
was brisk during the winter months,
dropped off during the spring when
1t is normally good, and then really
hit its stride in the fall Some brok-
erage firms reported November as
the best month since the depres-
sion.