Evening star., 1943-10-09
Real Estate Market
Reported Steady
Under War Stress

The real estate market has stood
up we'll under wartime conditions
and residential and industrial prop
critics are close to a maximum use,
the National Association of Real
Estate Boards reported today in its
4lst semiannual survey of realty
conditions.
The associa tion, basing its figures
on a survey of several hundred met
ropolitan areas, found that there is
a standing demand for at least
100000 housing units.
Business buildings are the prin-
cipal casualties, since the war has
crippled many retailers and service
shops. Office buildings were the
last principal group of real estate
holdings to come out of the depres-
sion doldruns, but since they draw
from a wide variety of users and
nowadays often have the Govern
ment as tenant, an actual shortage
of Office space is appearing in some
localities.
Rents Are Stable.
Despite decline in the demand
for business properties and despite
new wartime uses for Office space,
rents for both types Of properties
have generally remained stable in
most downtown areas, but are slid
ing down in a fifth of the report
ing cities. Subcenters have been
hit much harder than central dis
trictS, the report said.
War industry has stocked the fur
naCes in some cities, taken away
population from others. A division
is noticeable, as we'll, between cities
where rent control was put on at a
normal level and those cities where
the freeze date was at definitely
depressed level. Regions remote
from the first contract capitals
are now approaching full produc-
ton.
witness the following
activity, higher than last year in II
per cent of the 287 reporting cities,
representing every region Of the
country, was up In 96 per cent of
cities in the Southwest region, SO
per cent of Northwest cities, 81
per cent of Southeast cities, 81
per cent of South Central cities.
Real estate selling prices, higher
than last year in 81 per cent Of
cities over the country, found their
widest rise also in the Southwest
region, with 100 per cent of its
reporting cities in the up column;
in the South Central region with 81
per cent, and the Northwest with
80 per cent there" the report
stated
Many new buyers are in the mar
ket While there is evidence of
some speculative buying, the typi-
cal smart money" buying of today
is purchase Of commercial prop
erty for occupancy where the buyer
can take advantage of income tax
deductions for real estate taxes and
interest. Buying is for use in 70
per cent of todays sales Invest
ment buying makes about 16 per
cent of the sales.
fr1ceS hlSe IL Pef Jent.
The median price rise for the
year was II per cent. Real estate
prices now are reaching a point
where they are about equal to cNr-
rent reproduction costs minus de-
preciation Even at the increased
prices. sales of central business
property in some of the largest cities
are still at a figure lower than they
are carried for on the tax assessors
books The real estate industry
emphatically does not desire a
boom 1t knows that real spec
ulative boom would be a disaster,
the association declared.
Taking advantage of good mar
ket, lending institutions have been
very rapidly liquidating their real
estate holdings acquired in the de-
preston years.
Abundance of money for good real
estate investment shows itself in the
lowering Of standard interest
rates in some sections where money
costs have hitherto been above the
national average. Falling mort
gage Interest rates are reported in
81 per cent Of reporting cities over
the country. but "a per cent of
Southwest cities, 46 per cent Of
South Central cities. and 80 per
cent Of North Central cities have
Rad the benefit Of lower interest
rates, it was reported
Government acquisition Of land
for war purposes has become real
estate tax problem. Il has taken
enough from local tax rolls seri-
ouslv 10 unbalance local government
finances in 10 Der cent of reporting
cities and in IL per cent of report
&C., c1rTDyr7y r.z.