Evening star., 1940-07-19
Home Building Scars
To Highest Levels
Since 1929
low-Priced Housing
Claims Larger Part
Of U. S. Activity
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, July 19.-This year
is proving to be the biggest for
BODYBUILDING since 1929. said a
statement issued by the F. w. Dodge
Corp. statistical research service.
Residential building contracts let
during the first half of 1910 in the
81 Eastern States amounted to $780,
$4,000, an increase of 7 per cent
over the first half of 1889 and more
than six times larger than in the
first half of 1893, the lowest depres-
sion year.
Commercial and manufacturing
buildings also showed substantial
increases for the same periods. said
the report. Commercial building
contracts amounted to $142 .396, 900.
an increase Of % per cent. and
manufacturing building contracts
totaled Sill. 900, an increase of
Al per cent.
Overall dollar figures told only
part of the story of residential build
ing progress. said the report, re-
citing that single-family houses in
cluded in the contract record in
creased from tabs in the first six
months of 1889 to 90,910 in the like
period of 1910, a rise of % per cent.
Combined with increases in two
family houses, combination build
ings and converted units and de-
creased number of units in apart
ment buildings, total new dwelling
units for this year were 141.811, as
compared with 127,056 in 1899.
Units Gain Faster.
"The greater percentage increase
OF dwelling units, as compared with
dollar increase, is an obvious re-
Election of increased volume of low
priced houses and a measure of
progress which builders are making
in developing the low-priced mar
ket," said the report.
Out of the $46,00O,O00 residential
contract increase over last years six
months record, $4,000 900 repre-
sented the increase in private hous-
ing investment and 100000 the
increase in public housing projects. "
The combined half year total of
all private building contracts, $37.-
$1,000, was nearly 13 per cent, or
$107, 100000, over the 1889 figure.
However the aggregate of both pub
lie and private building showed a
net decrease of $3.00O,O0O, since the
1910 figures included a 100000 900
decrease in public building con-
tracts.
Gains over last year of more than
10 per cent in total dollar volume of
contracts were listed for the South
eastern States, Texas and the Pitts
burgh, Cincinnati, Detroit and Chi
cago areas, while New England
gained 4 per cent. Moderate declines
in total building volume were re-
corded for the Cleveland, St. Louis,
New Orleans and Kansas City terri
tories and rather substantial de-
clines in the New York City metro
politan area, Upstate New York and
the Minneapolis area.
Utilities Total Down.
Accompanying the decline in
publicly financed building projects
there was also a IA per cent decline
in dollar volume of heavy engineer
ing contracts in the public works
and utilities classifications," con-
cluded the report.
Total construction contracts Gin
cluding building plus heavy engi-
neering work. awarded in the first
half of this year amounted tc
81, ,623 ,087 900, compared with ST ,699, :
1854 900 in the first half of 1899. The
second half year gets under way
with the prospect of continued SUBJ
stantial volume of private construc-
ton and of considerable increases in
public construction stimulated by
the national defense program"