The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1949-01-06

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payments. And veterans. who
buying. ore finding il harder
consider the governments fiji
eruns as attractive as they
once did.
In general" said one promi-
nent economist in the housing
field, people are losing faith in
the housing market at the present
prises."
The Housing Act of 1948 does
Mt yet seem to have had much
effect on the home construction
industry. That act contained most
of the financing features of the
rejected. Taft -Ellender- Wagner
housing bill. 1t was intended to
make it easier to finance the
building and buying of homes
costing about $l1 900 or less.
The sponsor of the act, Rep.
Wolcott (R.-MichD, uredicted that
as result of it I,000000 new
non-farm dwelling units would
be started in 1913.
AS now estimated by the La
Dor Department, however,, the
housing starts totaled only 925,-
600. The monthly total of new
houses started began to drop in
June, and it went down steadily
from then on. The drop wasn't
seasonal. The winter building
lull ordinarily doesn't come until
October or November.
The experts in the Commerce
and Labor Departments predict
that only $4,000 housing starts
will be made in 1919. Even if the
Taft Ellender Wagner Bill is
passed, which political observers
think is certain, it Will mean no
more than an extra 10000 to 49,
900 additional housing starts dur
ing the year.
1t will thus be probably we'll
over a year. before the ail-time
record for home building is
cqualled-937, 800 dwelling units
in 1925. (These were biult when
the u. S. population was only
1881 1868. Now it is about l47,
100000
The decline has not hit the
construction industry as a whole.
Both the volume and dollar val
ne of over all construction has
been steadily rising. Commerce
and Labor expect about the same
amount of construction in 1919
as in l948. although predicting
that the cost of building viii be
5 percent higher.
Industrial construction is CX-
peCted to decline in 1919 Bat off
setting both that and the fall in
home construction are anticipated
rises in the amount of construc-
ton work to be done in CONNER
cial, institutional, public utility
and governmental construction
work. Most Of the latter is cE-
pccted to be schools and hospitals
built for the Veterans AdmInis-
tration and the Public Health
Service.
The volume of home constitute
ton is not actually low. lin 1916
only $4,000 housing units were
produced The average in the
1905 was only 273,0O0 d year. In
l947 it jumped to 0l4,00J units,
The low period in the thiltes
built up a large housing deficit.
This was made worse after the
war when the marriage rush,
followed by rising birth rates,
created many new families, al
wanting homes of their own.
But most of the people VINO
now are in need OF homes are IN
the low and loW-middle income
group. The experts estimate that
100000 such families need new
dwelling places. The best hope
for boosting home construction.
they say, lies in building 10 meet
the demands of this group.
Many government housing eH-
perts and economists, as well as
some members of the Senate ana
House, believe that builders can
make a fair profit in the CON
Struction of low priced homes,
and that some of them wall turn
to this now that they have
skinned the cream from the
housing market. They cuncede.
however, that only government
subsidy can make it feasible Tor
private interests to build for the
very low income families.
The next housing boom, they
believe, will not start before
1850, and the bulk OF the dWel!-
ing units Will consist of low
priced houses and apartments. II
will be stimulated, they say, not
only by a public housing and
slum clearance bill next session,
as well as the Housing Act OF
1913: but also by developments
within the industry which VIII
lower the cost of construction.