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The Real Estate Record.





There has been a real and very large addition to
our currency by the retention of our bullion usu-
aliy <"xporto<l and b\- the importation of gold and
s;lvi'r from other countries, and this is quite as
3>->tt>iili.-\l ns paper issues in advancing prices. A
c-herk. hin^ ever, to tho importation of gold will
ctiiil all the markets and this will certainly come
bifore spring. The production of gold and silver
or it-; iniptirt.ation is self-limiting. Not so paper
isMit's, wiiicli are limitle.s.s. Hence the present ad-
var.c' in j>rices is liable to "set-backs."

.Ms ill tl-.e building trade would be well to msike
h.x-sU' slnviy; not to be too confident, and not to \
ov.T produce.    Supplj- the market, but don't be
f..ij:5d  in the Spring with too large stocks on
build.





THE (JIST OF THE MARKET.

I>uriug lhe week closing to-day there has been
c..i,sider.nhle activity in the oflices that centre in
and around the Real Estate Exchange. When,
li<nve-»er. wc sjip.nk of activitj- it should be dis-
5 iiH-tly ui.di-rsloud that in using this word we do
n>i dt >iio it \>e considered s\-nonymous with the
'•h'om" that has in some waj- or other nestled
ill the br.iiiis of manj- busines.s men recently.
Ti:-,^ro is activitj- in the real osteite market, owing
to !ht> desire of manj- solid capitalists to invest at
ruliii.:; i>rices, but not for the purposes of sijecula-
t:->n. Here and there au exception may be met
with, but, asa rule, it will be found that investors
^vh<> now come to the front with their hard cash
pi.-icf their nionej" in the soil, after having struck
Verj- bard, bargains. Confidence, it is true, is
l>ii!!g rapidlj- restored, but it should not be all
at once forgotten that it needed all of this restora¬
tion to recover from the terrific shock it experi-
enceti during the past few years, in order once
more to invite the surplus or idle capital of cor-
lX)nitions and individuals to the real property of
our citj- and suburbs.

The lii.storj- of the market, as detailed in another
c tlumn, fullj- illustrateslthe views here expressed.
Tiiere have been public and private sales of
proj erty during the past few daj-s, all of signifi-
cuice for the quiet observer of the progress of
c%ojits in our midst. Notable among these sales
is 5 tie purchase of the four lots on the corner of
Kiftv-fourth street aud Fifth avenue by Mr.
Powers, for $2t!(VW0 cash, and yet if the same
amount of monej- were offered to-day for the
two lots on the block below, viz., on the corner of
Fifty-third street, there would be no sale. The
Slevens, iu fact, a.sk .i!2I(),000 for these two lots,
aiid thej- have been held at that price ever since
the la.st .s.ale on the avenue was made to Mr. Van¬
derbiit. It might be said that in the face of the
sale to Mr. Powers the price at which these lots
are licid is exorbitant and j-et when it is remem-
liercd that there are only twelve vacant lots for
srde on the avenue, below Fifty-ninth street, there
wiil Iw found anj'" mmiber of jjersons ready to
pr«x-laim that the Stevens price is not too far out
of j-auge.

Here and there, of course,iwhile the market is
rapiiily becoming convalescent, during the restor¬
ation of confidence above alluded to, there are
surpnVes to lie met with as well on a seller's side,
who makes an exceptional profit, as on the part of
n pui-cha^er who strikes a verj- favorable bargain.
Though these exceptional cases should bo re¬
garded as the result of extraordinary individual
causes, their effect, nevertheless, tends to show
nn activity which the real estate market has not
known for some time back. We allude particu¬
larly to the sale of two Fifth avenue lots, between
Sixty-fifth and Sixtj--sixth streets, bj' George
P.liss. Esq., for $70,000—lots which he purchased
in Janujin- last for §43,000 from Mr, E. W.
Stoughton, the American Minister at the Court
"f St Petersburgh. and purchased them, too.





it is said, by cable. This, as well as the Powers
purchase, must bexegarded among the sensational
events of the week. That the market is, how¬
ever, in the fullest meaning of the word strong,
considering the ordeal it bas passed through, is not
denied, even by the shrewdest of investors aud
brokers. As a matter of curiosity, a representa¬
tive of The Real Estate Record requested,
during the present week, several gentlemen to
give their views on the market for the purpose of
publication in these columns, and thej-are herebj''
furnished for general information without being
either added to or changed in the least.

Mr. R. C. Ferguson (speaking after the Phillips
sale of the King estate), said : " The four Eighth
avenue lots sold quite cheap. One of the
shrewdest men in the market, Mr. James Rufus
Smith, offered $.=),i)0!) for them, but thej' were
knocked down to Lespinasse & Friedman for
$6,000. The four lotson the Seventh avenue,bought
by Van Rensselaer Cruger, were reason.tble, but
not so cheap as the Eighth avenue lots." Refer¬
ring to the Powers purchase, Mr. Ferguson said :
" His lots are very cheap. He ought to have paid
more money for the corner lot. The people of
New York have not even begun to appreciate the
value of our Park surroundings. Wherever I
turn, however, I find evidences of higher prices
for real estate, and according to mj- opinion the
market will be stronger yet before the winter is
over. There are, for instance, in One Hun¬
dred and Sixteenth street, between Fifth and
Sixth avenues, six lots, and one on One Hundred
and Seventeenth street, for %vhich I have offered
$20,000. The holder wanted §23,000 for tbem,
and I am satisfied he will get it before the winter
is over."

A well-knovra resident of Brooklyn, who has con¬
siderable money invested in New York real estate,
said, after the Kino: sale: "Everybody" is satisfied
with the result of this sale, and I consider that
the bidding was quite spirited. I have lots right
in the rear of the lots sold to-day on One Hundred
and Nineteenth street, west of Eighth avenue. I
have been offering them all along for $2,000 a
piece, but since this sale I have raised the price on
them to 112,200.

Richard V. Harnett, taking a general view of
the market, said, yesterdaj', " the market is fair;
parties who are purchasing real estate now are
paj-ing all cash. The rule is to buy for invest¬
ment, not for speculation. The rapid increase in
the prices of building material will, however,
have a great tendency to create a scarcity of
houses which may result in a slight advance in
rents next Spring. There is no necessity for
' booming' this market, as parties that have been
carrying vacant lots for a number of years are
just now quite disposed to meet the views of
buyers."

Cyrtis Clark, a gentleman who maj- be re¬
garded as an expert in real estate, gave his opin¬
ions in the following terms: " This market has
improved during the year, with every indication
of further improvement, owing to the general re¬
vival of prosperity on the one side and the suc¬
cessful working of rapid transit on the other.
Wall street just now is the centre of attraction,
and there appears to be a disposition to Seal in
things of a fictitious nature, but before long this
tendency will be reversed, people will be found
dealing more generally in matters of real value."





THE FUTURE OF THB STOCK MARKET.
The intimate relation between the financial
condition of the coimtry, and the demand for real
estate must be our excuse for discussing other
questions than those affecting the price of land.
It is well known that if money is made in the
stock market and general trade, that there fol¬
lows, as a matt-er of course, a revival o£ interest





in realtj'. If there are losses in the general busi¬
ness of the country, real estate suffers. Everj'one
realizes that the " boom " in the stock market
will be followed by an advance of values in the
real estate market. Everything which adds to
the prosperity of the city of New York, will, in
time, give a value lo our houses and lands in and
near the city. Stock values continue to advance.
Persons 'who deal in securities are much richer
to-day than they v^ere last week, or the week be¬
fore last, aud there is enough room for a still
further advance. All six per cent, stocks and
bonds will be worth par; seven per cents will go
from 112 to 116; eight per cents 12.5 to 13.5 and so
on. Hence, we do not believe that prices, as yet,
are high. The market will be " bull" the rest of
this J'ear, but as prices approach the figures wc
have mentioned, it is evident that operators will
become more and more careful, and there will be
less done in stocks. Then the process of absorp¬
tion has commenced. It is believed that there
are fewer shares of good stocks in Wall street to¬
day than tfaere w-as six months or a j-ear since.
That is to saj', the investing public after having
absorbed the government bonds, has put its
monej' into stocks and bonds reasonablj- certain
of six and seven per cent., and has taken them
out of the "stieet." This absorption of good se¬
curities has led to the demand for second and
third-class stocks and bonds which has been so
marked a feature of the street for the past few
weeks. It wiil be remembered that, east ofthe
Mississippi, no new roads are being coiistrucied.
West of the Missouri, it is understood, that there
are twelve thousand miles of railroads called for,
but not more than five thousand can bo built
within a year, owing to the lack of railroad steel
and iron. It follows that as the process of ab¬
sorption goes on there will be fewer [securities to
deal in upon the Stock Exchange. Prices will be
higher, and the market will be scmewhat duller,
because there is a figure that even the most reck¬
less operators will not dare to pass. But we will
reach those figures sometime this winter.

What next ? Whj' this speculative fever will
overflow, naj', is overflowing, into mining shares
and miscellaneous securities, such as gas and in¬
surance stocks, bank stocks, express stocks and
real estate, but realty will como last of all. In
the meantime we are about to have an open Board
of Brokers, the sessions of which will extend from
nine o'clock until four in the afternoon, and deal¬
ings will be permitted in ten and twenty shares
of stock. We think the regular Stock Board has
been unwise in not giving facilities for dealing in
all the minor securities, similar to the Englisb and
French Stock Exchanges. The mistake has been
in not dividing the interest in the Stock Exchange
and recognizing the fact of specialties in certain
lines of securities. Instead of selling insurance
stock, bank stock, gas stocks, and the like, at auc¬
tion sale, these together with mining securities
ought to be dealt in at the regular Board. But
the Exchange itself should be sub-divided. Cer¬
tain brokers would naturally be experts in mining
securities ; others in insurance, and others again
in gas stocks. Manufacturing stocks would have
their call and so ou with all the entire list of in¬
corporated companies. They should all be repre¬
sented on the regular Stock Exchange and all get
the attention due their merit. But the great op¬
erators of the street, dealing, as they have done,
entirely in railway securities, have so limited the
action of the Stock Board that it has forced the
organization of a Mining Board, and now an open
Board of Brokers, both competitors, when they
might form a part of the parent Board.

The regular stock operator discourages invest¬
ments in anything else than railw^ays, because it
confuses his business. The broker can borrow on
New York Central, Rock Island or.the coal stocks,
but he is put out when an order comes in from a