Evening star., 1951-07-28
$1,000 Houses
Begun Here in
First Half Of 81
Only so Had Higher
Volume Building for
one-Fomily Units
By Robert J. Lewis
Real Estote Editor Of The Stur

District area home building
went into a tailspin in June. but
the total number of homes put
under construction in the first six
months of Thu year is still one of
the highest reached in any similar
period in history.
June volume of 1900 houses
was 35 per cent below tn $500
started in June, 1850, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today.
In the first six months of this
year, 1000 houses were started.
That was $500 under the 1850 all
time high.
OF One-FamiIy Type.
Virtually all the homes were
Of the one-family type, with only
out of 9 represented by apart
mentS.
The number of one-family
homes started was higher than
for any year of which there is q
record. except 1850. The one-fam-
lily homes started add up to 9.400.
BIS explained that the June
decline was largely attributable to
gradual exhaustion Of easy
credit" financing commitments
through which homes could be
built for sale with low down pay
ments.
Before more drastic "Regula-
ton x" terms were announced,
local builders beat the deadline
with applications for commitments
which allowed them to continue
to build for sale with low down
payments.
Now that many Of these low
down payment homes have been
started, builders are going slower
in starting construction of houses
for which higher down payments
will be required, BIS indicated.
Decline May Continue.
Unless down payment require
ments are relaxed here, it appears
that the number of houses put
under construction during the re-
mainder OF the year will continue
to decline, BIS said.
"The 1850 houses started here
In May will probably remain the
high point for this year, according
to advance data on new residential
construction authorizations" the
agency said.
The relatively high volume for |
the first six months results from
the exceptionally good start home
building had during the early part
of the year, when more homes
were started in January than in
any corresponding month in his
tory.
Apartment construction was at
comparatively low level during
the first six months of this year.
with work started on only 1910 1
units, compared to 2,7O0 in the |
first half Of 1850, and to 5000 in 4
the first half of 1949. Biggest year
for the apartment construction In |
the District area was 1949.
In the District itself, apartment |
construction accounted for most |
Of the residential construction ir
the first half Of this year.
Montgomery county, where one
third OF the entire areas home
building during the first six
months was centered, suffered no
drop in residential construction
volume.
A slight slow-up was noted in
Fairfax County, Va. and a con-
siderable decline was reported in
Prince Georges County, Md, and
in Arlington County, Va.
Cost of homes started in the
first six months Of this year was
considerably higher than in the
first half of 1850, standing at $12,-
400 in comparison to $11,500 for
the corresponding period in the
years before, and $10,900 in the |
same period in 1949.
The present cost level is the
highest for any six-month period |
on record. Houses, however, are
(See LEWIS, Page BAD