Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XXIV.





NEW  YUKK, 8ATUJ:IDAY, OCTOJJEJl 18, 187U.





iNti. (Hl.'i





Puhli.^hed Weekly by

Cljc Seal €'Sink%HQx'b |csso nation.

TERMS.

ONE YKAU, in advance.. ..SIO.OO.

Ooiuinunications slioutcl be addres.sed to

C.   W.   SWEET,

Nos. 345 ANU ii47 Buoadway





RICVIEVV OF THE MARKET.
It eau hardly be said that there has been auj-
decided advance iu the price of all real estate
since the date of our last general review, (lub-
lished in Thk Rkal Estate REconn on May Mist,
last. It is true there i.s a much Iiettcr fcoliug and
iiiauj- who tlidught of selling are now holding on
for higher figures. There are places here and
there where a veri* decided advance has been
established. Lots near the southea.st of the
Ceniral Park have advanced very Iargel\-. >Sonie
that were formerly .sold as l<iw as twenty-two
thousand dollars have been resold at thiz-ty .seven
and thirty-eight thousiuid dollars. There is a
much better feeling also on the central zone of the
i.sland, east of the Ccntr.al Park, where nearly all
the new building is now going on. The advance
there has been very handsome. T^ots thai; sold at
twelve thousand dollars have in some instances
been resold as high as twciitj--two and twenty-
three thousand dollar.s. Then on the west side of
town thcincrea.se in the value on unimpioved lots
has been quite marked. There have not been iiianj'
transactions, but there are far fewer sellers in the
market now than a year ago and a great manj-
more people iiniuiring, though asyet thepurcha.s-
ers have been limited. But, taking property on the
whole, it cannot liesjiid that any marked advance
has as .yet been established, outsifle of certain
well defined locations. Hut all the imlicaticiis
point to higher prices before next spring. .A
great many peojilo are making money today in
Wall street and in general busines.s. By and by
they will want to have something to .'-how for their
gains and it will soon take tho form of fine build¬
ings on Manhattan Island, e.spccially on the line
of the elevated roads. The most unsalable prop¬
ertj- is that below Forty-second street and extend¬
ing from the Sixth to Third avenues. This is
still strongly held, but those who wish to sell find
to their chagrin that it is not possible to get the
old prices. The new houses built with labor and
material so much below what it was in the past
have the call, and then rapid transit being estab¬
lished, people feel they can afford to live ou
either side of or beyond the Central Park and still
do their customary business on the lower part of
the island. The proxiniitj'- to the Central Park
and the beautiful drives has proved a magnet to
tho new rich, and they will buy, and build, aud
settle on the unimproved property, passing by
the old aristocratic quarters of the creme de (a
creme of New York society. Very fine houses
have been sold in Thirty-fourth to Thirtj'-eighth
streets for very reasonable prices. Then the omi¬
nous appearance of stores, tailor shop.s, etc., on
Fifth avenue above Twenty-si.vth street is cre¬
ating a feeling that perhaps this fashionable
thoroughfare will in time become a retail trading





mart. There is uot much danger of tliit as yet,
though a tew line stores for the sale of costly
goads will bo established there. The apprehension
is that lower Fifth avenue will run into boarding
houses and in time make the whole thoroughfare
common, but the future outlook for all kinds of
property is hopeful. Capitalists have liegan to
.see what Thk Rkal Estatk Rkcouii has so
often stated, that the cstalilishment of rapid
transit iiractically settles the question us to the
future location of the business centres. There
will be no change. Fiftj' years from now the
financial and trading centre of New York will be
the .same as it is to day. The busine.ss area will
be extended further and still further uptown,
but Broad, Wall and Na.s.sau streets and lower
Broadway will then asnow be the quarters where
our great financial institutions will bo located and
the wholesale business of the citj' transacted.
Tho coming fifteen j'e.ars will see an immense
incie.ise in the iiuiuber of incorporated compa¬
nies who will have their places of business down
town and ollices now at a ili.-^count will, in a few
jears, be at a preiiiium.

It is a notable circumstance, that, while there
has been a general stillening of prices, the number
of transactions in real, estate ollicially reported
are unusuallj' sniall for the season. At this time
of tho j-tar onr list of ollicial convej'ances ought
to be verj' large, but, as will be seen, tlie.y are not
s<i, and of the numbers of new housas erected a
verj- large proportion have yet to be marketed.
Capitalists and builders show unshaken confi¬
dence in the future in thus ere<.'ting costly hou.ses
%vhen there are no real pt!rchji.sers in the field.
But this .sluggishness will .soon give place to
activitj-, and we expect during the coming
winter to record verj- heavj' trans;ictioiis in
real estate.

Wc Judge that (uio difiicultj' is tlioditTerence of
views between liujers and sellers. The would-be
buj'ers, who have iargelj' increased in nnmlier,
tind, to their a,stoiiislinient, that propertj' is not
so low as thej- supposed it was, judging from the
forced sales at the Real Estate Exchange. But
this difTerence of views as to value.s, will soon
give place to activitj', because both buj-er and
seller will compromise and fix the market rate at
which there will be a brisk bn.siness.

Loans.—\V bile it is true that monej' must be
permanentlj- cheaper in the future than it has
been in the past, the sudden rush of business this
fall has put tho price of monej' up to what we
deem abnormal figures. It is not wholesome to
have a constant seven per cent, market in this
citj-. If we would transact the business of the
country we must make this citj' the cheapest point
at which monej' can be borrowed. The I'estric-
tion by the State Legislature of the legal rate of
interest from seven to six per cent, is but an ex¬
pression of the general feeling that money must
hereafter be cheaper. We doubt, seriously doubt,
the wisdom of any legislative restrictions upon
the price of moiiej-. That ought lirst be left to
tbe laws of trade. Bnt certain it is that capitalists
cannot expect the high rate of interest common
in former times, nor can landlords demand, even
in Hush times, the high percentage on their invest¬
ments which was customary during and subse-
qnent to the war.   It has been quite possible for





some time p^st to get loans on real estate for si.x
per cent, and even less, providing the amounts
were large enough and the time protracted. On
the " street" nionej- has recentlj- been as high as
seven per ceut. and more, but it wius during the
busj'season and under the stimulus of a iiiarvel-
ously excited stock market. After tho iirst of
next Januarj- tbe legal rate will probably be the
current rate, and we will not bo surprised in the
fullness of time to see five per cent, established as
the figure for loans on well-.secured real estate.
AVe .■^hould remember that the countrj- is making
monej- verj' rapidly; that the number of riili and
well-to-do is constantlj' increasing, and there will
naturally be more money to invest for widows
anil orphans, and where the aim will be securitj-
latb.er tliar. large profit. The mainteiuuicft of
the government four per cents above par tells the
story of the estimate placed upon the value of
monej'lij'the most far seeing and conservative
of inve.stoi-s. This fact is full of significance as to
the future price of mc)uej-, and leudi-rs upon real
estate securities, who can secure six per cent,
interest for manj- j-ears, would do well to make
time bargains. But tbe high price of govern¬
ment four per cents simplj- means that capital is
willing to accept less than formerlj- for the use of
monej'; that landlords cannot expect the large
rents of former times, and that the laboring
classes must be satisfied with siu.iller wage.«.
There will be no loss anj-where, for this iii>'aiis
that monej- will be worth more and that smaller
wages will purchase as much of the nece.s.saries
and comforts of life as formerlj-.

Rent.s this fall have risen in everj- direction.
Stores, oflices and tenements are all firmlj- held.
Landlords could Justlj- complain for some years
past that the.v were at a dissid vantage. Tbe tenants
had the best of tho bargain. There were manj-
empty hou.ses; there was little competition except
for well locateil dwellings. The landlord interest
on the whole received far less than its just dues,
and this at a time when taxes and assess¬
ments were l.eavj', and a great deal had been
dono lo keep the houses in repair. We maj'
now expect to see a steadj' enhancement in
rentals. In Brooklyn we notice a great inanj-
verj' nice houses are being erected. But it
should be borne iu mind that anj- verv great ad¬
vance on this island will be checked bj- the cheap
rents of Brooklyn, Jei-sej' Citj', and the surround¬
ing countrj-. True, the elevated roads are attract¬
ing people here from everj- quarter of the countrj',
and there is less an actual deinand for residences
on the other si<le of the East and North river.s, but
the verj' low rents which have been necessitated
act as that check upon prices in tliis city. People
who are asked two thousand dollars for houses
here in New York, know very w^ell that for from
six hundred to a thousand thej- can do better iu
Brooklj-n. E.specially can the middle class people
be better supplied with cheap residences in the
suburbs than thej' can in Now York. The large
class who gave up their lodgings, and tenements,
and flats during the summer mo!: ths, found to their
surprise on returning to town that prices had
been very considerablj- marked up near the de¬
sirable quarters of the citj-. and there is no doubt
that from tbe next first of Februarj-, when en,
gagements are made, and the following Maj-