Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 33, no. 847: June 7, 1884

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June 7, 1884 The Record and Guide. 611 THE RECORD AND GUIDE. Published every Saturday. 191 Broadway, N. Y. TERMS: OiVE VBAR, iu adrance, $IX DOLLARS. Communications should be addressed to €. W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSET, Buainess Manager. JUNE 7, 1884. Whatever may be the outcome of the two political national con- rentione, the one just adjourned and the one about to meet, thereis no reason for any exaggerated fears for the safety of the country. Partisans may believe thafc the choice of a certain President may bo the ruin of the country, but such feara are groundless. The busi¬ ness community should not lose its head if certain so-called organs of public opinion should predict disaster if one or the other party succeeds. Let us all keep as cool as the Btate of the weather will permit. ____________ All the crop news ia good. Accidents excepted, the year 1884 will witnes3;the heaviest cropg of corn, small grain and cotton ever grown in this country. With an average season we ought to have two billion bushels of corn, seven million bales of cotton, over five hundred millibn bushels of wheat, and other grain in proportion, as a basis for tbe business of the year beginning with next fall. There is no danger of our people being hungry ornaked during the year to come, aod with ordinary luck we ought tohavea handsome profit besides on our business operations. Wall street [has been blue for some days past, due to the selling of our local securitiea by foreigners who bought for a turn during the recent cyclone. That buying was so extensive aa to reduce the price of exchange. But the balance of trade is largely against ua, and unlesf we ship more grain and cotton, gold will be leaving our shores again. It is this consideration and the uncertainty about the Chicago nomination which has made the market weak. But it will be better by-and-by. The June boom is due and it will come. ----------•---------- According to our Albany advices there ie little doubt but what Governor Cleveland will sign the new building law, but there is some doubt about his approval of the bill providing for the acqui¬ sition of new park grounds in the annexed district. The pressure upon him to sign the bill is very great. It is, in fact, one of the most popular bills of the late session. Owners of realty in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards will be very much disap¬ pointed if the Governor should withhold his signature from this enactment. ----------•---------- The Republican platform does not give any encouragement to the gold unit people. It ignores all that has been said about the wickedness of the ailver dollar coinage, and calls for international action to determine upon what ratio the two precious metals can be freely coined ; in other words, it declares in favor of bi-metal¬ lism, which is the true American doctrine. the Harlem River to South Ferry ; the New Haven road will also use it to convey passengers to a new depot shortly to be conatructed in the neighborhood of Twenty-third street. The New York & Northern road will also come to the front again as a feeder to the reorganized Manhattan system. The way will also be opened for an understanding with the Brooklyn Bridge trustees and the com¬ pany now constructing the elevated road across the river to make a running arrangement between the elevated systems of the two cities. It is hard to judge what a man like Jay Gould may do with the combined elevated roads, but potentially for its length and capital it is the most valuable railway property in the world. Ita possibilities in the way of profit are simply phenomenal. The Cotton Exchange has established rules under which its mem¬ bers can deal in print cloths. This is a more importanl matter than appears on the surface. It will create a market for cotton gooda and relieve the trade of many embarrassments which it has heretofore labored under. True it opens the door to speculation, but this simply means that outside money will be available to pur¬ chase cotton gooda when they are low and to sell them freely when too high. This will equalize prices and prevent many of the heavy failures which occur under the present system. It will also make Now York in time the great dry-goods centre of the Union, In this connection would it not be worth while for some one of our exchanges to deal in the shares of the eastern manufacturing companies ? The Manhattan-Metropolitan imbroglio has, it seems, been settled. Certain of the parties interested have been caught out in the recent WaU street cyclone and were forced to offer terms. The compro¬ mise, as made, has been without the intervention of courts or law¬ yers. It is high time this matter wag adjusted. The Transfers for Five Monihs. The first five months of this year show a larger real eatate busi¬ ness than in any previous five months in the hiatory of the city. The table which we give below tells its own story of the remark¬ able activity in realty during the past spriug. The total number of conveyances was 5,974, against 5,047 in the first five months of 1863. The total amount expended was but little shsrt of $100,000,000 (193,065,206). The total for the same period last year waa $78,140,- 456. It should be remembered, however, thafc these figures do not tell the whole story, for, inaddition to the figures given, there were 1,306 transfers which were nominal, a great number of which were transfers from husband to wife, or presents without con¬ sideration from parents to children; but undoubtedly in other cases the amount paid waa concealed for a purpose. Still as au offset to this possible augmentation of the actual sum paid for real estate there were many cases where the consideration was overstated, in order to give fictitious values of property for sale. It is, liowever, safe to estimate that during the first six months of this year nearly $125,000,000 will have been invested in New York realty. It is also worth noting that the number of transfers iu the Twen¬ ty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards is steadily increasing. There were about 200 more this year than lasfc, and $1,753,846 was in¬ vested against $1,406,3S7 for the same period in 1883. Should the Governor sign the new park bill the transfers of property in the annexed district would double aud even treble as^compared with the number which took place last year. \ |Turning to the record of mortgages we find the total for the five months was $57,456,800, against $53,303,0:2 during last year. The mortgages for the month of May are unusually large, owing to the Wall street embarrassments; but the gratifying fact is shown that while the money invested in real estate is largely in excess of last year th? relative mortgage indebtedness is far less; that is to say, more people have paid in cash, and have reduced instead of in¬ creased the liens upon their property. This is the moat healthful symptom of the present real esfcate situation. But the following is the table, compiled from our records, from which our readers can draw their own deductions: CONVBYANOBS. 1883. No. Conveys. January...... 929 February..... 844 March........ 1,031 April......... 1,235 May.......... 1,009 Total...... E,047 1684. January...... 941 February..... 8M2 March_______ 1,134 imount. $ll,a75,TGG 13,785,799 17,i52,m9 IH. 643,671 16,98J,aal Nom. S3d & 91th W. Amount, a5B 216 2i7 269 aofl 85 10(i ]03 101 J37 $147,895 341.356 201,572 38^,793 3-39,769 878,140,456 .1,300 5-11 51,4(16,.S87 April. May. 1,537 I.-ISO S 14,362,7'12 18,306,093 16,359,029 25,065,37.^ 23,971,389 Total...... 5.974 No. 1883. Morta. January......... 904 February........ 7'2 •March......... 1,011 April............ 1,004 May............. 033 $99,005,206 143 357 270 20S 335 l,3t]6 lao 1S8 134 165 J65 *351,03! sm.uo 335,373 275,061 4ie,ai2 718 $I,75-',846 Nom. 23 35 L'6 SS 37 149 24 30 33 02 37 191 uoRTOAass. Amount. »11,C33,156 8,0tiii.272 '12,061,779 11,375,185 10,665,630 No. at 5 p. C. 333 270 332 370 310 Amount. $3,985,745 2,035,862 3,787,067 4.911.638 3,737,759 No. to Banks &. Ins. Cos. 117 147 191 H7 133 Amount. $1,995,182 3.132,900 *:).576,100 4,06S,B0O 3,175,60'J TotftI........ 4,5D4 $63,202,022 1,614 $19,348,271 708 $I9,£48,5?J! 1884. January .. February, March___ April...... May...... 800 708 911 1,I.')9 1,137 $9,700,463 7,414,053 13.iei>,140 11,463,411 15,693,731 ,3;i3 250 329 485 401 $3,403,204 3,19s,-J5S 3,466.130 6,120,083 6,411.665 J5I 129 223 177 201 $2,751,100 3,'.'10.766 4,678,1 JO S r.62,600 0.539,350 The settlement of the elevated roads disagreement will have several important consequences. The Suburban Rapid Transit Ctompany will shortly commence work in the annexed dietrict. The Second avenue line wiU be utilized for through trains from Total........ 4,811 $57,456,806 1,838 $31,621,395 881 $I9,74i,!6H * Does not Include ona mortgage for $10,000,COO on property ot Poatal Telegraph Co. The record of new building plans filed is also very eatisfactory, Thefigureswegivebelowwillgreatlysurprisenot only ownera and dealers in realty, but the businesa public generally. The number of plans filed during May compared with the two previous years have nearly doubled, and the amouni; which it is propoaed to invest in new buildings is $8,688,025, against $4,870,747 in the May of last year, and $3,917,350 in the same month of 1883. The total for the five months for 1884 is $34,415,051, while for the corresponding period last year it was $31,748,369. In 1883 the plans caUed for an expenditure of $17,826,370. Eut here an explanation is in order. It does not follow that be-