TABLE 6.-ESTIMATED COST OF BUILDINGS FOR WHICH PERMITS WERE ISSUED IN PRINCIPAL CITIES, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1930-Continued

TABLE 6.-ESTIMATED COST OF BUILDINGS FOR WHICH PERMITS WERE ISSUED IN PRINCIPAL CITIES, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1930-Continued

TABLE 6.-ESTIMATED COST OF BUILDINGS FOR WHICH PERMITS WERE ISSUED IN PRINCIPAL CITIES, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1930-Continued

TABLE 6.-ESTIMATED COST OF BUILDINGS FOR WHICH PERMITS WERE ISSUED IN PRINCIPAL CITIES, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1930-Continued

IN

Housing Situation in Philadelphia

'N ITS annual report for 1929 the Philadelphia Housing Association calls attention to the fact that there was a marked falling off during the year in the number of houses and of family accommodations under permit.

For dwellings of all types this number was 4,196, as contrasted with 7,834 in 1928 and 13,067 in 1925, the peak year of building. In 1929 there were 5,918 family accommodations provided as against 11,192 and 15,308, respectively, for the other two years. Thus in 1929 new houses under permit reached only 53.5 per cent of 1928 and 32.1 per cent of 1925. In family accommodations provided the respective percentages were 52.9 and 38.6. Family accommodations under construction permits for 257 cities of the United States, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, totaled 62.8 per cent of 1928 construction and 49.6 per cent of

1925. It is apparent that dwelling construction in Philadelphia fell off more markedly than was average in cities throughout the country. But on the other hand, the completion of the 1929 construction program will close two remarkable decades in dwelling construction in Philadelphia. The gross addition in all types of houses for the twenty-year period was about 160,000 family accommodations, or housing for 800,000 persons. Of these accommodations, 84 per cent were in dwellings.

The single-family type of housing still holds the leading position in Philadelphia, since 4,057 brick or stone houses under construction during the year were for one family only, as against 80 two-family dwellings and 41 apartment houses. Of the family accommodations provided 68.8 per cent were in 1-family houses, 2.7 per cent in 2-family houses, and 28.4 per cent in apartment houses. In other words, practically 7 of every 10 families who occupy the 1929 housing will live in 1-family dwellings. The average number of family accommodations in the apartment houses was 41 per building. Since 1925 there has been a falling off in the amount annually spent for housing, and this has been relative as well as absolute.

While there was a steady decline in money spent for all construction, the shrinkage, both relative and actual, in housing expenditures and the expansion in the proportion expended for commercial building is most noticeable in 1929. In 1928, housing expenditures accounted for 47.9 per cent of all construction, whereas in 1929 they totaled only 26.2 per cent.

Dwelling Costs

THE average cost of 1-family dwellings under construction in Philadelphia during 1929 was $4,459, the average in different sections ranging from $3,330 to $10,656. A study of sales prices, based on 2,955 one-family brick or stone dwellings showed an average for the city of $6,339, the average in different sections ranging from $4,895 to $7,937. The lowest price found was $4,500. The average sales price was 36 per cent in excess of the average construction cost, but here again there was considerable variation.

Including only districts where sales prices were obtained for more than 100 houses, that is, districts 4 to 8, and district 11, four showed a lower percentage of sales price above construction cost than the city average. Thus the sixth district showed 31.6 per cent, the eighth district 33.1 per cent, the fifth district 33.2 per cent, and the ninth district 36.5 per cent. The excess of sales price over construction cost does not represent net profit but is profit plus the land and improvements and the cost of selling. The difference in land values in different sections may account for wide variations between estimated cost and sales price, as may also faulty judgment in estimating costs. Builders report wide variations in cost of improvements, arising from differences in street and lot widths, grading, and subdividing. In one area where the percentage of difference was very low, it is alleged that the builders cut their profits to a minimum in order to expedite sales.

Sales were more frequent in the lower range of prices, ranging from 25 per cent of the houses in the $8,000 to $9,000 class to 54.6 per cent for the group costing $5,000 or under. An analysis of construction during the past seven years shows a steady decline in the average sales price of 1-family houses, following a decline in the average estimated cost, and shows also that the percentage of total construction in the lower price ranges has increased. In 1923, less than 45 per cent of the houses were placed on the market at a sales price of $7,000 and under. In 1929, on the basis of incomplete data, this figure approximated 79 per cent.