Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 64, no. 1656: December 9, 1899

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December 9, legg. i:COKD AND GUIDE. 87/ ESTABUSHED"^/^CH£i¥.'^ 1868. Devoted P iW- Estwe.BuiLoif/G %afitecture.KouseiIoud DEGORATiorf, BiJsitJESS Aflo Thèmes of GïHeRaI- INte^est. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. Publiahcd every tahirday. ' Tel£phoke, Cortlandt 1370. Communkatlone ehould be addreeaed ta C. "W. SWEET, 14-16 Vesey Street. /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. "Entered at the Posi-Opioe at New Sorle, N. S., asseeand-clan» «laifer." Vol. LXIV. EKECEMBER 9, 1899. No. 1656 WHILE neitlier the persistent deeliaes in ttie industrials, and sympatîietic movements in otlier issues; tlie revived de¬ mand for money from the interior, nor the flurries in other mar- Itets ■wblcii hâve marked the week can he overlooked or regarded ■wlth any sort of satisfaction în their relation tO' the immédiate future, there are more agreeahle features of the situation which it is well, at the same time, to hear in mind. The really en¬ couraging circumstance-of the situation is the comparative strengtii of prices—judged one week from another, if not day from day—in spite of the indifférence of the spéculative pubîic and profesional activity against priées. To these, perhaps, ought to he added the uncertainties regarding money, though they are likeiy now to soon disappear. Since Iast sum¬ mer there has been a considérable ail-round décline; in par¬ ticular cases this décline has been quite severe—in the Transits and Industrials for instance. The close of the old and opening of the new year ougbt to make same additions and improvements to the list of dividend payers, and unless some' unloreseen caiamity transpires this fact alone ought to open the way to a new up¬ ward movement, one at least affecting those issues that receive tangible benefits from ths good business that is being done throughout the country. If the promised eurrency législation matures, and of tbis there is every iikelihood, it ougbt also to hâve a very distinct influence on prices, in tbat it would remove the most probable cause for scares that bas existed in onr midst for a good many years. Tbe signs—Treasury receîpts, postal re¬ turns, railroad earnings and reports from trade centres—all point to a continuation of the industrial and commercial activity that has characterized the présent year, Europe may see the bloom coming off its boom, but we bave not ended our innings yet. ABROAD the pinch of money continues to be felt, though there are also there signs that the financial year will be brought to a close without serious difiiculty. The advance of the Bank of England rate to 6% probably marks the extrême point of pressure, The last time tbe rate touched this point was in 1S90. Shipping interests bave been greatly benefited by the growth in business; so much BO tbat six navigating British companies hâve made ad¬ ditions to their capital aggregating $12,500,000 during the current year, while there bave been also large additions made to tbe capital of ship building and allied interests, The Board of Trade October labor report says that the gênera! Btate of employment remained good and tbe precentage of un¬ employed members returned by the trades' unions was lower than at any similar period since 1889. In France dissensions over tbe British-Boer war bave caused tbe dismisal of tbe man¬ ager of the French Bank of South Afriea, and the résignations of the chairman and two otber directors. The controlling interest based its action on the ground tbat the bank had no right to take eides, Berlin explains that the tightness of money there is part¬ ly due to the fact that many institutions bave provided for de¬ mands tbat wili come upon them at the end of the year, and that this will relieve the market later on. German iron is as active as ever, but building opérations give signs of declining; the price cf brick has been reduced 10 or 15%, and there is a failing off in the demand for cément, which had been regularly increasing for many months before. The growth of wealth in Germany is re¬ markable. Based cm income tax and other returns, tbe increase in the past four years of business activity is estimated at, say $375,000,000, Corresponding witb the growth of wealth is the growth of the flnancial business of the Empire. Austrian officiai flgures, of money are now given in crowns, the new eur¬ rency unit, Instead of florins, with the result that the sums look very large, The Austrian erown, according to the U. S'. Treasury table, is worth 20.3 cents, while , the florin was worth abotit 70c. Thus tbe budget recently laid. before Parliament with its receipts of 1,585,811,822 and expendi¬ tures of 1,585,403,933 crowns looks immense. It is increased, ex¬ penses having grown iu all directions to be met by increased tax¬ ation. Australia is steadily recovering eommerciaily. The rev¬ enue returns of the four principal colonies fer the September quarter show moderate, hut on the whole satisfactory increases. A ehrcnically pessimistic correspondent at Buenos Ayres, com¬ menting upon tbe failure of his own dismal prophecies, saysS "The threatened crisis is eonjured for a time and, materially, the prospects of the busy season now at hand are very good, the rise in tbe price of the country's two great staples, wool and wheat, are making a considérable and favorable différence in tbe num¬ ber of millions of dollars that will go to its crédit in Europe next year." The Realty Market. THE week's reports show that the moderate improvement in the brokerage business which became manifest a month ago was founded upon conditions that are likely to remain operative during the season. This improvement was due to a resumption of spéculative activity which was interrupted during the summer.. The body of the reports is made up of transactions in dwellinga and medium-priced flats and tenements, tbat is, residential hous¬ ing, which normally constitutes the bulk of tbe dealing. In addition, the reports contain a fair number of transactions in vacant and antiquated properties, bought hy building loan opera¬ tors and spéculative builders for improvement. The market is merely resuming the character which' it possessed before the annually récurrent summer dullness, so that, by any just stand¬ ard of comparison, it cannot be said to be "broadening," al¬ though it is taking on a show of activity aiong the familiar spéculative lin-es. Investment activity cannot be expected so long as the minmum interest rate on time money is 6 per cent., while net rents remain below that figure. On the otber band, the money available for building loans is amply abundant, for the average profits on this class of opérations exeeed any¬ thing which the gênerai loan market has to offer. It is true that the building movement can continue only up to the point where it no longer yields a profit, but this point bas apparently not yet been reached, despite the rise in constructional cost The exploitation of the electrical elevator in residential hous¬ ing is a matter of too récent origin to show signs of exhaustion, The new elevator apartments may deplete the older type, but so long as tbey continue to fill up builders will be able, at the very least, to trade tbem off for lots or antiquated premises, in¬ cluding enough cash to start a new opération. It has heen suggested that the extraordinary building statis¬ tics of this year hâve been reached in large part by the filing ot an unusual number of plans which bave never been started, and also that the rise in constructional cost has caused hundreds of opérations to be abandoned in various stages of incompletion, According to Superintendent of Buildings Dooner, leaving out o( considération tbe districts affected by the new fire limits, there never was a year in tbe history of the department when so few of the plans filed were not aetually started; the reports of bis inspectors submitted at the beginning of tbis month revealed ouly some thirty opérations in Manbattan where work had been interrupted, and in most instances the interruption was caused by inability to obtain iron promptly. Tbe reports for Bronx had not been received tbis week, Weak builders may bave been "wiped out" as a result of hai'dening crédit on the material mar¬ ket, but their opérations are apparently promptly continued by others, It is learned that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment will be asked next week to make an appropriation of ?30,00O with which to purchase for the Register's Office the Bridges col¬ lection of maps and surveys, The request is to be made in the form of a pétition, signed by real estate lawyers, and will be th© second pétition on the subject presented to the city authorities, the first having been submitted many years ago, shortly after tho collection came into the possession of its présent owner, The collection consists of over 5,000 maps, surveys and field books, and contains a very great number. of surveys that are not on file in the Register's Office or in other eity departments, and of whieh no duplicates exist, although copies of many of them were- originally deposited in various city departments. The compre- hensiveness of the collection may be inferred from the fact that the "Descriptive Index of the Maps on Record in the Offlce of the Register of the City and County of New York," published by Adclf Dengler in 1875. comprises less than 1,500 titles. The founder.of tbe collection was Wiilliam Bridges, city sur-, veyor in New. Tork, wbo died about 1812, leaving two sons, B.' W. and Joseph F., to coutinue his business, as partners. Josepli