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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 86, no. 2233: December 31, 1910

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December 31, 1910. RECORD ANB GUIDE 1127 SSlKBUSSED-^^fPC-H 21«> 1368. toRpjJiEsTMt.BuiLDijfc TS^pfiilrreCTunE.KausEKoLijDEaaf^AtK^. Biisnfess jufoTheses of GEjfcR^l Wter,e$i, WWCE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE ESQHT COLLARS Communications shoulcl fft AitlKBBeA ^ t ■W- SWEET Tabiished EVery Satardag By THE KECORD AND GUIDE CO. President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGB VIce-Prea Sc Genl. Mgr., H, W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLEIB THom, 11 to 15 Baat 24tli Street, New Tork City (Telephone, Madison Square, 4430 to 4433.) •"Entered at the Post Office at New York^ N. Y., as seoond-elass matter." Copyrighted. 1010, by The Record Se Guide Co. Vol. LXXXVl. DECEMBER 31, 1910 No. 2233. REAL ESTATE AND BUILDING IN 1910. A Review of the Year—Few Tendencies of Importance—Saved From Another Panic—AStrong Financial Position Now Secured. THE year 1910 has not be&n a year of any considerable prosperity for the reai estate and building interests of New Yor'k. Neither has it been a year in ■which .new tendencies of great importance have appeared. Indeed it is not unfair to speak of 1910 as merely the tail to the kite of 1909. During the preceding year certain definite tendencies developed and obtained great popularity and mo7 mentum. During the past year these tendencies continued to prevail, but with very much diminished force. During 1909 there had been a very varied activity in real estate and building. Both residential and business districts had shared in this activity. In the middle section of iVIau- hattan the activity was unprecedented in its volume—and in the distribution of property affected. A large number of very important leases were made covering extremely val¬ uable corners on Fifth avenue and on Lougacre and other sciuares. Business men were evideaitly appreciating the importance of securing permanent sites for their stores in central locations, whose value could not fail to Increase as avenue in particular suddenly became extremely active and practically all the side streets south of 42d street benefited from this enlargement of the area of business occupation. In the meantime resideJitial property was doing almost as well, Apartment house building on Washington Heights was revived, and became very active. Those parts of the B'ronx, Brooklyn and Queens which were accessible were rapidly improved. New York City, like the whole country, had apparently completely recovered from the depression of 1908, and had resumed the process of business expansion which had been interrupted by the panic of 1907. The improvement in business, ho'wever, proved to be based upon shifting foundations, as early as the spring of 1910, ail the worst characteristics of 1907 reappeared. There was an excessive cost of living, huge imports, diminishing "exports, an" unwholesome expamsiou of credit, and general extravagance and unrest. There might have been another panic had not the banks begun resolutely to diminish their liabilities, strengthen their resources and discourage any continued expansion. This change in the general conditions had aa immediate effect upon the situation in New York; and the effect was all the more noticeable because local conditions, also, had suddenly become unwholesome. Large credit institutions, which had afforded gecerous support to the construction of loft buildiugs suddenly shut down on their loans, because they became convinced that over-building was taking place, particularly along the line of Fourth avenue. For the same reason the cooistruction of apartment houses on "Washington Heights was deprived of financial encouragement. Decisive action of this kind immediately put a stop, also, to real estate activity, and during the Summer and Fall the whole market became very dull. The access of dullness was less pronounced m the outlying boroughs than in Manhattan. During 1910 they almost maintained the level of activity enjoyed during 1909, but that activity was conflned to rather small areas that were beneflted by exceptionally good means of com¬ munication with Mauhattan. The comseciuence was that the end of 1910 failed to ful- fl] the promise of Its beginning, activity rapidly disappeared both in real estate and building; and it was succeeded by a pervading dullness. The transactions which were consum¬ mated were a legacy from the period of better times and did not indicate any new tendencies which would aid real estate operators and builders in making their plans for 1911. Table Showing Number of Conveyances 1—-------190(3.—------1 I-----------1007. Manhattan. Bronx. Manhattan. January..........1.911 936 1,250 February ......... 1,720 833 1,057 March ............. 2 311 1,003 1,279 'April .............2,6SO 1,128 1,445 May...............2,447 1,321 1,352 June .............. 2,261 1,167 1,157 July ............... 1,702 1,653 1,015 August ............ 1,263 892 736 September ........ 885 692 562 October ........... 980 831 772 November.......... 1,108 86S 773 Decemher ........... 1,1D4 688 056 20,422 12.012 12,034 for IVIanhattan and Bronx foi' Years 190G to 1910, Inclusive. --------1910.- Eronx. 736 661 715 843 933 1,015 1,101 611 523 075 521 512 I--------■ 1908. Manhattan. 7S7 6S4 90S 950 . 867 933 817 '576 630 844 811 1,058 8,846 9,865 Bronx. 5'55 57o 579 641 603 1,116 729 467 502 625 504 627 I-----------1909.- Manhattan. 887 813 1,089 1,084 1,111 1,025 913 622 694 675 S61 906 Bronx. 575 490 G13 GS3 G50 693 791 434 524 562 66S 569 Manhattan. 916 863 1,098 983 903 1,021 845 691 639 572 637 341 Bronx. 558 514 631 636 625 618 639 497 * 473 549 669 242 7,323 10,680 7,274 9,509 6,651 Only fifteen days in Decemher, 1910, are included. the city grew in population and wealth. Nor was this all. Great strides were also made in the establishment of a new wholesale mercantile district north of 23d street. A larger amount of money was spent on new loft buildings during that year than during any previous year in the history of New York; and tbese buildings were erected as far west as Seventh avenue and as far east as Fourth avenue. Fourth The Conveyances ^Inalyzed. OUR readers will find interesting the tables printed here¬ with, which give the statistics of real estate transac¬ tions for 1910, compared to those of the four previous years. ,It wil! be seen from these tables that while the number of conveyances of Manhattan real estate recorded has been cut in half since 1906, the flgures for the years from 1907 to 1910 / 9 06 CON ve.Y/^nce:s / 9 oe / & o & /9 IO AfO '■> 5: S ■^ ^ ■^ ^ 1 <:3 SEPT. O 0 0 6 Ul 5 5; JUNE. JULY. , S ^ SEPT-\ 1^ 0 ^ ? 5: < JUNE\ X o K, Q. (J 0 0 5: UJ i 03 ay < JUNE JULY. O ^ ■^ Cl. 1*1 0 0 ^ ? 0 Q ^ ^ -> ft i [JUNE >; S •^ 3 n O o ■- " — - - — — Z y O 0 2 6 0 0 1 > 2 4 0 o 1 s , 2 2 0 o / s 2 o 0 0 / ^ / 8 0 0 / \ / 6 0 0 \ ^ /j 4 0 0 '\ f s / 2 a G A ^ / '-. 1 o o O .- \ ' , \ \ ' -\ .--' — '' s 8 0 O .\ -- _ — \ .- \ !■ ■V. /' N, \ \, b 0 O \ \ ^- ^^. ,- '^ \ *^^ ?^ —*- s '. i /■ f \ ■; -i' 4 5 O % V -4— V —r T^ "^ SOLID LINE INDICATES MANHATTAN. CONVEYANCES; DOTTED, LINE INDICATES BRONX CONVEYANCES.