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4D ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
X)ME LEVELS AND HOME PURCHASE
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THE PRESIDENT'S CONFERENCE ON
HOME BUILDING AND HOME
OWNERSHIP
Called by
PRESIDENT HOOVER
ROBERT P. LAMONT
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
RAY LYMAN WILBUR
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Joint Chairmen
PUBLICATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT'S
CONFERENCE ON HOME BUILDING
AND HOME OWNERSHIP
FINAL REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
JOHN M. GRIES AND JAMES FORD, General Editors
DAN H. WHEELER AND BLANCHE HALBERT, Associate Editors
I. Planning for Residential Districts
II. Home Finance and Taxation
III. Slums, Large-Scale Housing and Decentraliza-
tion
IV. Home Ownership, Income and Types of Dwell-
ings
V. House Design, Construction and Equipment
VI. Negro Housing
VII. Farm and Village Housing
VIII. Housing and the Community — Home Repair and
Remodeling
IX. Household Management and Kitchens
X. Homemaking, Home Furnishing and Informa-
tion Services
XI. Housing Objectives and Programs
Home Ownership, Income
and Types of Dwellings
Reports of the Committees on
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING
ERNEST T. TRIGG, Chairman
RELATIONSHIP OF INCOME AND THE HOME
NILES CARPENTER, Chairman
TYPES OF DWELLINGS
JOHN IHLDER, Chairman
Edited by
JOHN M. CRIES AND JAMES FORD
Assisted by
JAMES S. TAYLOR
THE PRESIDENT'S CONFERENCE ON HOME
BUILDING AND HOME OWNERSHIP
WASHINGTON, D. C
Acknowledgment is made to the Vice Chairman of the
Committee on Relationship of Income and the Home,
namely, Martin A. Brumbaugh, to the Secretaries of the
Committees on Home Ownership and Leasing and Types
of Dwellings, namely, John R. Riggleman and Dan H.
Wheeler, respectively, and to James S. Taylor and
Blanche Halbert for preliminary editing and frequent
help in the preparation of these final reports for publi-
cation. Acknowledgment is likewise made to Marion E.
Hall for the compiling of the Index and to Dan H.
Wheeler for the detailed work of preparing this volume
for the press.
COPYRIGHT, 1932
BY THE PRESIDENT'S CONFERENCE ON HOME BUILD-
ING AND HOME OWNERSHIP, ROBERT P. LAMONT
AND RAY LYMAN WILBUR, JOINT CHAIRMEN. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO RE-
PRODUCE THIS BOOK, OR PORTIONS THEREOF, IN
ANY FORM.
PRINTED BY NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESS, INC., WASHINGTON, D. C., U. S. A.
COMMITTEE ON HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING
ERNEST T. TRIGG, Chairman,
Chairman, Educational Bureau, American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers'
Association,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Benjamin F. Affleck, President, Uni-
versal Atlas Cement Company, Chi-
cago, Illinois.
Frederick M. Babcock, Research As-
sociate, Bureau of Business Re-
search, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Saul Cohn, President, U. S. Mortgage
and Title Guaranty Company of
New Jersey; President, Bankers
Bond and Mortgage Guaranty Com-
pany, Newark, New Jersey.
John H. Donlin, Editor, The Plas-
terer, Cicero, Illinois.
Ernest M. Fisher, Professor of Real
Estate, School of Business Admin-
istration, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
F. Stuart Fitzpatrick, Manager, Civic
Development Department, Chamber
of Commerce of the U. S., Wash-
ington, D. C.
Ernest A. Hale, Former President,
U. S. Building and Loan League,
Boston, Massachusetts.
Miss Harlean James, Executive Sec-
retary, American Civic Association,
Inc., Washington, D. C.
John H. Kirby, President, Kirby
Lumber Company, Houston, Texas.
M. J. McDonough, President, Build-
ing Trades Department, American
Federation of Labor, Washington,
D. C.
Elmer T. Peterson, Editor, Better
Homes and Gardens, Des Moines,
Iowa.
Malcolm C. Rorty, Former President,
National Bureau of Economic Re-
search, Lusby, Calvert County,
Maryland.
Simmons, Edward A., Chairman of
the Board, American Builder Pub-
lishing Corporation, New York,
New York.
William M. Steuart, Director, Bureau
of the Census, U. S. Department of
Commerce, Washington, D. C.
Charles Warner, Former President
National Lime Association, Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania.
JOHN R. RIGGLEMAN, Secretary,
Division of Building and Housing, Bureau of Standards,
U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C.
COMMITTEE ON RELATIONSHIP OF INCOME AND
THE HOME
NILES CARPENTER, Chairman,
Chairman, Department of Sociology, University of Buffalo,
Buffalo, New York.
MARTIN A. BRUMBAUGH, Vice Chairman,
Bureau of Business and Social Research, University of Buffalo,
Buffalo, New York.
Joseph Herman Daves, Head, Depart-
ment of Economics and Sociol-
ogy, Knoxville College, Knoxville,
Tennessee.
Miss Emily W. Dinwiddie, Director,
Children's Bureau, State Depart-
ment of Public Welfare, Richmond,
Virginia.
vi HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Miss Blanche Halbert, Research Di- Laurence F. Schmeckebier, Institute
rector. Better Homes in America, for Government Research, The
Washington, D. C. Brookings Institution, Washing-
Gardner S. Rogers,* Assistant Man- ton, D. C.
• ager, Civic Development Depart-
ment, Chamber of Commerce of the Robert Whitten, City Planning Con-
U. S., Washington, D. C. sultant, New York, New York.
Miss Faith M. Williams,
Senior Economist, Bureau of Home Economics,
U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D. C.
COMMITTEE ON TYPES OF DWELLINGS
JOHN IHLDER, Chairman,
Executive Director, Massachusetts Housing Association,
Executive Director, Pittsburgh Housing Association,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
C. Ernest Baker, Manager of Francis Arthur C. Livermore, Vice President
White Estate, Baltimore, Maryland. and General Manager, Westing-
Charles A. Beck, Secretary-Treas- house Air Brake Home Building
urer, Woodlawn Trustees, Wil- Company, Wilmerding, Pennsyl-
mington, Delaware. vania.
H. Morton Bodfish, Executive Man- A ,, T XT 4.1 TTJV TU A u-
TT c T) -\A-. A T ^ Arthur T. North, Editor, The Archi-
LgeargueyCWcagoU1Sisand ^ ™™* F°™"- New' York, New
Herman F. Cellarius, Secretary, U. S.
Building and Loan League, Cincin- Miss Mary A. Rokahr, Extension
nati, Ohio. Economist, Home Management, Ex-
Harris Ginberg, Secretary-Treasurer, tension Service, U. S. Department
The Cincinnati Model Homes Com- of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
New
Thomas S. Holden, Vice President, Arthur Evans Wood, Professor of
F. W . Dodge Corporation, New Sociology, University of Michigan,
York, New York. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
DAN H. WHEELER, Secretary,
Division of Building and Housing, Bureau of Standards,
U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C.
Adviser to the Committee
A. Lawrence Kocher, Managing Editor,
The Architectural Record, New York, New York.
* Deceased.
FOREWORD
It is doubtful whether democracy is possible where tenants
overwhelmingly outnumber home owners. For democracy is not
a privilege; it is a responsibility, and human nature rarely volun-
teers to shoulder responsibility, but has to be driven by the whip
of necessity. The need to protect and guard the home is the whip
that has proved, beyond all others, efficacious in driving men to
discharge the duties of self-government. And from the landed
barons of King John, down through the squirearchy and yeomanry
of England to the makers of the American Revolution, the men
who have preserved the civil liberties of the English-speaking
peoples have been the men with a stake in the soil.
We have concerned ourselves too little with the effect of home
ownership on citizenship. In the planning and production of our
housing we have given no thought to its influence in aiding or
obstructing self-government. No one denies that for reasons other
than financial ones, home ownership is impossible or unwise for
many members of the population — for example, the unmarried
and those whose occupations require frequent shifts of location.
But for the sake of our political institutions and what they mean
to our liberties, we should not forget that the obstacles to a much
greater percentage of home ownership than we can now boast are
artificial and capable of removal.
To be specific, the Committee on Types of Dwellings in this
volume examines the heavy trend which developed in our cities
in the 1920's toward multi-family dwellings. How much of that
trend resulted from a carefully planned response to studied needs
and demands and how much from an unconsidered adjustment to
the line of least resistance by speculative builders, concerned pri-
marily to get the greatest profit in the shortest time? Thousands
of families live in apartments because they have no choiee. Where
investigations have been made — in Detroit and in Chicago — the
majority of apartment dwellers have said they would prefer one-
family homes if they could get them well equipped and at the
same price.
In the provision of types of dwellings, as in every other aspect
of our housing, rule-of-thumb methods have prevailed and imme-
vii
viii HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
diate profit has been the goal. Far-sighted planning and recog-
nition of individual and social welfare have had little part. For
one thing, we have given almost no thought to supplying single-
family homes of good standard to the low-income groups. With-
out doubt the major obstacle to an extensive increase in home
ownership in this country is financial. The traditional single-
family house handed down from our ancestors costs too much for
the wage earner. Instead of taking thought to reduce that cost,
as we have reduced the cost of the automobile, for instance, we
have accepted the substitute multi- family dwelling, the tenement.
That is not only social short-sightedness; it is economic short-
sightedness. The market for good housing within the range of
the poor man's pocketbook is the richest untapped market in the
world. It would be a gratuitous reflection on modern science
and engineering technique to suggest that the production of such
housing is impossible. Until the last few years it has never been
tried. Let the same initiative that produced the skyscraper be
turned to the production of low-cost dwellings and the results will
surprise a world bred in a tradition of housing that has not changed
fundamentally in five thousand years. Awareness, housing-con-
sciousness to replace the widespread apathy to housing — that is
the first requisite.
Meanwhile, the possibilities for providing suitable housing for
low-income groups contained in reconditioning and remodeling
existing dwellings need to be explored. Those possibilities have
been largely neglected. A growing body of experience reported
by many cities and Better Homes in America committees gives
evidence that reconditioning offers the most powerful tool imme-
diately available for raising housing standards.
In discussions of the relationship between income and housing,
one vital point is often overlooked. Thrift is a virtue that can
work miracles. The wealth of our resources has tended to crowd
this virtue out of the national character, and to lead us to expect
rewards without sacrifices. We depend too much on a future
reduction in the cost of housing and not enough on the self-dis-
cipline which would enable us to buy a home with our present
means. The immigrant from France or Germany, for instance,
finds it easier than the native born American, with the same or
a larger salary, to buy a home. Perhaps the fault lies in our
perspective. In the turmoil of modern life, we may have forgotten
FOREWORD ix
that the home is the most important physical factor in human
environment and the major objective of human activity. When
this basic truth rises once again to the surface of the national
consciousness, home ownership will increase, whatever the changes
or the lack of changes in its cost. The labors of the men and
women whose results are contained in this volume will hasten the
coming of that time.
ROBERT P. LAMONT.
August 8, 1932.
INTRODUCTION
In designating this Conference as one on Home Building and
Home Ownership, the President was profoundly aware of the
importance of the ownership of homes in safeguarding the tradi-
tions and developing the ideals of our Nation. Responsible citizen-
ship is largely dependent upon individuals having a stake in the
community, which is the major source of civic pride and judicious
participation in the affairs of local government. Through the rela-
tion of his home to its neighborhood and to the city government,
the home owner acquires a keener civic interest and a greater sense
of civic responsibility. In addition, home ownership means high
standards and better control of the environment by the occupant.
It helps also in the development of thrift and self respect, facil-
itates wholesome living, and promotes character development in
that it gives the family a fresh incentive for sacrifice and a new
and high ideal.
Home ownership is not immediately feasible for all families.
Many wage earners and others must look upon their employment
as temporary and must be free to move. In large cities, because
of transit difficulties, many families are forced, for the time being
at least, to live in apartment houses. The real estate market may
not be favorable to building or purchase of the type of house
required. But all families in which there are young children
should seriously try to find a place in the family budget for sav-
ings which may at the proper time be invested in the purchase
of a home.
The purpose of the Conference has at times been misquoted.
It has been charged that its aim was to induce every American
family to own its home. This is a misconception. It was stated
definitely in many places that the purpose of this phase of the
Conference was to make home ownership possible for families that
desire to own their own homes and to protect them in such owner-
ship from needlessly heavy burdens of financing, taxation and
legal difficulties. Home ownership should be rendered possible
for every thrifty family. Each of the committees of the Con-
ference has addressed itself to some phase of this problem. The
Committee on Home Ownership limited its studies largely to an
xi
xii HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
examination of the advantages of home ownership, the conditions
under which it is desirable, the relative merits, economic and social,
of ownership and renting, and considered the interests of lending
agencies and the public as well as those of the prospective home
owner.
The Committee on the Relationship of Income and the Home
was one of the last to be appointed and had little time at its dis-
posal for original research. It found a mass of undigested and
imperfectly correlated documents on one phase or another of its
subject but no previous comprehensive study was available. The
time and funds available to the committee were so limited that
it was unable to make an extensive original study of income and
its distribution in America. Neither could it cover the range and
percentage of income devoted to rent and to home acquisition, to
heat, light and service for the home, and to the purchase and
upkeep of furnishings and equipment, by population and occupa-
tional and racial groups. Nor could it survey the better types of
housing now available here and there throughout America for
unskilled and semi-skilled workers in order to ascertain the meth-
ods of making these more widely available. Well-endowed re-
search covering a considerable number of years would be necessary
to cover this subject. The report, particularly the chapter on the
Buffalo home ownership study which, at the request of the Com-
mittee, has been revamped by James S. Taylor, Chief of the Divi-
sion of Building and Housing of the U. S. Department of Com-
merce, is a useful and valuable study of available contemporary
income data in its relation to housing and calls attention to the
imperative need of further study.
The Committee on Types of Dwellings was asked to look into
the relative merits and costs of houses of many types now current,
whether detached or in rows and whether for individual families
or for two or more families. It also considered the geographical
distribution of these various types, the local reasons for their adop-
tion and the relative consumer demand for each. Trends in resi-
dential construction were likewise studied. The report does much
to clarify terminology in designating the types of houses and
establishes a standard classification which is urged for universal
adoption. The report will thus be an essential reference book
for real estate men and builders and for specialists in housing,
whether employed by public or private agencies.
INTRODUCTION xiii
This volume as a whole is a unique contribution to the literature
of housing. The members of each of the committees reporting
here were drawn from a wide variety of professions and back-
ground. Their findings will be of particular value not only to
specialists in housing and social welfare but also to real estate
men, subdividers, architects, builders and contractors, home econ-
omists, householders and to public servants who deal with any
phase of the problem of housing.
JOHN M. CRIES,
JAMES FORD.
October 26, 1932.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PART 1 1
CHAPTER I. HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 1
The Problem 1
Trends in Home Ownership and Leasing 2
Owning Compared with Renting 3
Stabilization of Values and Income 4
Need of Information 4
Home Ownership as an Incentive to Save 5
Protecting the Home Owner's Investment 6
Supplementary Reports 7
Recommendations 7
APPENDIX I. HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS
CYCLE 12
Supply and Demand 12
Reasons for Expansion 12
Trends, Seasonal Variations, Cycles, and Random
Movements 14
Securing Expert Advice on Economic Conditions. ... 18
Conclusion 18
APPENDIX II. SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT. . 19
Home Ownership Is an Incentive to Save 19
Buying at a Favorable Time 19
Neighborhood 20
Selecting the Location 21
Style 21
Necessity for Careful Examination of Ready-Built
House 22
Preliminary Cautions in House Building 22
Budgeting the Purchase 23
Mortgages and Their Renewals 24
Cost of Improvements 25
Taxes, Insurance, Maintenance and Other Costs 25
Speculative Prospect of Appreciation 26
City Planning, Zoning, and Deed Restrictions 26
Insurance 28
Importance of Adequate Legal Advice 28
Improvement of Home Premises 29
Attention to Maintenance and Modernizing 29
XV
xvi HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
PAGE
Community Improvement through Cooperative Effort 29
Home Owners' Interest in Government 30
APPENDIX III. PROBLEMS OF RENTING 31
The Tenant's Problems 31
The Landlord's Problems 36
General Considerations 39
PART II. RELATIONSHIP OF INCOME AND THE HOME 45
CHAPTER II. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOM-
MENDATIONS 45
Introductory 45
Factual Summary and Commentary 47
Need for Further Research 48
Expenses above Basic Costs 48
Inequality in Bargaining Strength 49
New versus Used and Reconditioned Homes .... 49
Spending Patterns in Home Buying Families .... 50
Special Advantages Enjoyed by Some Home Buy-
ing Families 51
The Problems of the Low-Income Family 52
Recommendations 53
CHAPTER III. RECENT DATA ON INCOME DISTRIBUTION
AND FAMILY EXPENDITURES FOR HOUSING IN THE
UNITED STATES 58
CHAPTER IV. Low-CosT HOUSING PROJECTS 69
Cost Reduction 69
Low-Cost Housing Enterprises 70
United States Department of Commerce Survey 74
Better Homes in America Demonstrations 74
Conclusion 75
CHAPTER V. THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY. . . 76
Introductory 76
Description 77
Financing the Property 82
Occupation, Earnings and Composition of the Family
Which Owns the Property 88
Down Payments on Home Purchases 97
Consequences of Home Purchase 98
Analysis of Information and Data 102
Miscellaneous Relationships 122
Summary 122
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
CHAPTER VI. A CASE STUDY OF TEN HOME PURCHAS-
ING FAMILIES IN THE BUFFALO AREA 126
Introductory 126
Case Summaries 127
Summary and Interpretation 131
CHAPTER VII. PROPORTION OF HOMES OWNED AND
RENTED BY VALUATION CLASSES IN 1930 135
APPENDIX. SUPPLEMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS ON RE-
CONDITIONING, REMODELING AND MODERNIZING 143
PART III 145
CHAPTER VIII. TYPES OF DWELLINGS 145
Effects of Unregulated Building 145
A New Era 145
Classification and Definition 146
Types of Dwellings 147
Classification of Dwellings 148
Discussion of Types and Varieties 151
The Essentials of Good Housing, plus Desirables. ... 152
Conveniences versus Essentials 155
Long-Time Policy : Immediate Practice 156
Composition of the Population and the Housing Needs
of the Various Groups 160
Social Needs and How They Are Met by the Different
Types of Dwellings 162
Community Burdens Due to Dwelling Types 168
Farm and Village Housing 168
Rural Industrial Housing 169
Mining Towns 169
Conclusions 169
Studies 172
APPENDIX I. FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 175
Family Types 175
Varying Types and Housing Needs 175
Family Data of the 1930 Census 176
Analysis of Wilmington Census Data 176
Composition of the Family 177
Home Values and Rentals 182
Comparison of Family Types by Wards .... 184
Cincinnati School Census Data 192
The Aging of the Population 192
xviii HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
PAGE
Present Situation and Trend as to Dwelling Types ... 192
The Dwelling Trend as Indicated by New Con-
struction 192
Some Reasons for the Apartment Trend in Metro-
politan Regions 199
Effect of High Land Values ^ fj . 200
Home versus Apartment Living 201
Home Ownership versus Renting 202
Fewer Children in Apartments 202
Children of Preschool Age 204
The Gainfully Employed Homemaker 205
Multiple Dwellings in Smaller Cities 205
APPENDIX II. LAND VALUE AND ITS EFFECT UPON TYPES
OF DWELLINGS 208
APPENDIX III. DIAGRAMS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF TYPES
AND VARIETIES OF DWELLINGS 216
ILLUSTRATIONS
One- family Dwelling of Good Design and in Attrac-
tive Setting Frontispiece
PAGE
One- family Dwellings
Detached facing 146
Semi-detached (Washington, D. C.) (top) facing 147
Group (Chatham Village, Pittsburgh) .... (two) facing 31
Group (Philadelphia) facing 174
Row (Burleith, Washington, D. C.) facing 30
Two- family Dwellings
Detached (Buffalo Income Bungalow) . . (center) facing 147
Detached (New England) (bottom) facing 147
Semi-detached (St. Louis Flat) (top) facing 151
Group (Bridgeport Housing Company) facing 150
Row (Sanitary Housing Company, Washington)
(center) facing 151
Multi- family Dwellings
Detached (Tilden Gardens, Washington) (top) facing 175
Semi-detached (Washington) (bottom) facing 175
Row (New York City) (bottom) facing 151
PART I
CHAPTER I
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING
The Problem
Individuals and families are confronted with many important
problems in purchasing or leasing homes. How can home owner-
ship be made easier for those for whom it is desirable and prac-
tical? How can conditions be improved so that the renter will
enjoy more satisfaction as a home owner? These are the central
questions which should be carefully examined in a study of home
ownership and leasing.
The following pages are devoted to a consideration of the con-
ditions under which home ownership is preferable to renting, and
to a study of methods of stimulating home ownership and prevent-
ing difficulties in the acquisition, holding, management, and leasing
of homes.
The committee feels that it should be possible for a home to be
owned by everyone for whom home ownership is desirable. As
President Hoover has so ably stated in the foreword of "How to
Own Your Home" : x
"Maintaining a high percentage of individual home owners is one of the
searching tests that now challenge the people of the United States. The
present large proportion of families that own their homes is both the foun-
dation of a sound economic and social system and a guarantee that our
society will continue to develop rationally as changing conditions demand.
"A family that owns its home takes pride in it, maintains it better, gets
more pleasure out of it, and has a more wholesome, healthful, and happy
atmosphere in which to bring up children. The home owner has a construc-
tive aim in life. He works harder outside his home ; he spends his leisure
more profitably ; and he and his family live a finer life and enjoy more of
the comforts and cultivating influences of our modern civilization. A
husband and wife who own their home are more apt to save. They have
an interest in the advancement of a social system that permits the individual
to store up the fruits of his labor. As direct taxpayers they take a more
active part in local government. Above all, the love of home is one of the
finest instincts and the greatest of inspirations of our people."
1 Gries, John M., and Taylor, James S., Washington (U. S. Bureau of
Standards), U. S. Government Printing Office, 1925.
1
2 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The committee believes that the social consequences which would
accompany an increase in the proportion of home owners, for
whom home ownership is sound, would be distinctly desirable and
that this increase can be accomplished by removing or reducing
the difficulties which limit the spread of home ownership.
The importance of considering the problems of the renter in mak-
ing a home in the United States is indicated by the fact that over
half of the families live in rented houses. Although the problems
of renters of housing accommodations may sometimes be inade-
quately considered by social and economic workers, they have been
given much consideration by those who are furnishing quarters
for rent with the result that to many people more desirable facili-
ties can be rented than can be purchased on a comparable basis.
Trends in Home Ownership and Leasing
According to the census of 1920, 45.6 per cent of the families
in the United States owned their homes. For the country as a
whole, this figure represented a decrease of one-half of one per
cent as compared with 1900, but in all cities of 100,000 or more
inhabitants the proportion owned showed an increase as compared
with 1910 and 1900.
According to the census of 1930, the proportion of farm homes
owned in that year was substantially less than in 1920. In re-
ferring to this situation, however, it should be appreciated that the
considerations involved in owning a farm as a production unit are
not independent of the questions of home ownership.
Population census data for 1930 available for Delaware show
that the proportion of homes owned in the state as a whole has
steadily increased for the past thirty years. In Wilmington, the
largest city in Delaware, the proportion owned has also increased
steadily during the same period, from 27.1 per cent in 1900 to
45.2 per cent in 1930. Data for other states were not available
when the report was prepared.
The trend toward apartment house building in the larger cities
and in some of the suburban areas should not be misconstrued as
indicating that the desirability of the ownership of homes built
for single- family occupancy has decreased. The great majority
of American men and women still regard the ownership of a home
as an essential contribution to their welfare and as an important
aid in the proper rearing of their families.
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 3
The easy access afforded by improved transportation facilities
from suburban communities to industrial areas, the use of auto-
mobiles by the great army of American workers, the lowering of
the cost of household equipment, and the numerous conveniences
that are now purchasable in the form of household appliances are
all conducive toward the acquiring of a home, which a family can
maintain, improve, and beautify, as it sees fit.
The number of homes within the price range of $4,000 to $9,000
has run not only to hundreds but to thousands, where each com-
munity has been built up as a unit. In the best of these develop-
ments there is evidence of a skill in the selection of prospects by
the developers that has led rather rapidly to the fostering of an
active neighborhood spirit. This spirit has grown up among those
who previously may have been living in congested city quarters,
in ignorance, perhaps, of their nearest neighbors, and accustomed
to none of the restraints against careless living and none of the
inspirations toward good living that develop through neighborhood
acquaintance and high community ideals.
Observation of these communities indicates rather clearly that
it is unnecessary to argue for the detached single- family house or
for the suburban community suitable for homes for those who
have moderate incomes. A family usually has a natural desire to
own such a home and live in such surroundings. There are appro-
priate methods of development and financing which have been
tested and applied. Public efforts need be directed mainly to facil-
itating this natural movement toward home ownership by giving
adequate publicity to tested development and financing plans, by
encouraging prospective home owners to secure the necessary
information from the proper sources before buying, and by en-
couraging cooperative activities that are destined to develop the
community and protect the home owner's investment.
Owning Compared with Renting
Whether home ownership or leasing is advisable depends upon
the particular requirements of the householder. If the house-
holder is a permanent resident of the city and is in a position to
make satisfactory financial arrangements, he is ordinarily in a
position to enjoy the advantages of home owning. If, however,
the householder must have freedom of movement, or if it would
4 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
be unsafe for him to undertake the obligation of purchasing, his
wants would ordinarily be best satisfied by renting.
One of the most influential considerations in home buying is
pride of ownership. The home owner takes pride in owning and
improving a house and a piece of ground. He enjoys the respect
of his fellow citizens due to this provision for the welfare of his
family and his independence as a home owner.
The relations between the cost of owning and the cost of renting
vary widely in different periods of the business cycle. When the
householder is comparing these costs, it is very important that he
consider them from a long-range point of view and that he be not
misled by temporary advantages of one or the other.
Stabilization of Values and Income
One of the greatest things that can be done to make home own-
ership more desirable is to effect a greater stability of home values
and of home owners' incomes. The tendency of the crowd to buy
in periods of inflation results in much dissatisfaction with home
ownership when business later declines. The effecting of greater
control of business fluctuations, especially in holding back building
and other business activities during periods of inflation, will do
much to safeguard home ownership, and not only by helping to
stabilize the value of the homes themselves but in making it easier
for those who are paying for homes to continue making payments.
Under present conditions, not only does the value of the home
decline in periods of depression, but the incomes of many of those
who are purchasing homes decrease to the extent that when it is
most necessary to keep up the payments it is not possible to make
them. From the viewpoint of society as a whole, the advantage
that the home owner has who buys in a period of depression at an
extremely low price does not offset the disadvantage of the owner
who buys in a period of prosperity at an inflated price.
Need of Information
Although there may be some measures that can be taken to
control the activity that results in the extreme inflation and defla-
tion of home values, the greatest influence in this connection is
information. If the home buyer, the home buyer's advisors, the
financial institutions, and others who are directly interested in
home buying had adequate information at hand, it would do much
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 5
to prevent the false hopes which cause values to soar and over-
building to occur in periods of prosperity. Information of this
type includes current data on population growth and upon the
supply of vacant dwelling space. These data must be interpreted
in conjunction with information which will reveal the position in
the local business cycle, the long-time trend of the community
growth, and any other factors which would modify their interpre-
tation. Information on purchasing power, price levels, cost of
living, the outlook in the market for the commodities produced
in the locality are all important.
The committee cannot be too emphatic in urging the home buyer
to consult with responsible officials in savings banks, in building
and loan associations, and in the trust departments of commercial
banks, and with other reliable local leaders who are known to give
sound advice on problems of what, when, where, and how to buy.
In order that the uninformed home purchaser may protect himself
against any unscrupulous dealings, he may well adopt the follow-
ing general rules : Never, under any circumstances, sign any con-
tract for the purchase of real estate without having such contract
approved in absolutely final form by a responsible bank officer or
competent attorney, and preferably by both. Make no payments
until the contract is signed. Ask to have all promises, guarantees,
etc., put into writing, and break off negotiations at once if there is
any hesitation in complying with this request. For instance, some-
times salesmen make guarantees of resale value ; if such a promise
is a condition influencing the buyer, he should insist that it be
written into the purchase contract. Be particularly cautious if
you have had no previous real estate transactions, or if an initial
payment of only 10 per cent or less is required.
Home Ownership as an Incentive to Save
If home ownership is otherwise desirable for a family, the
strong incentive to save that accompanies the purchase of a home
serves as an additional sound argument. People who will not
save otherwise will economize in various ways in order to pay for
a home. Even if the buyer experiences some decline in the value
of his property, in many cases he accumulates what he would not
otherwise have secured. Consequently, home buying represents
for many people a much better investment than they would have
made if they had continued to rent. Many persons who now enjoy
6 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
the ownership of their homes are very thankful that they obli-
.gated themselves to pay for a home at an early period in their
lives even in cases when such saving was neither easy nor con-
venient.
The security of tenure which the young home owner enjoys is,
of course, very important. But probably nothing contributes in
a greater degree to the enjoyment of the home owner, when the
time comes for retirement, than the security that is felt in home
ownership.
Protecting the Home Owner's Investment
There are many ways in which the home owner can protect his
investment against the various influences which tend to cause the
entire neighborhood as well as the individual house and lot to
depreciate in value, provided, of course, that the investment is
wisely made in the first place. Among the more important methods
of protecting the home owner's investment are city planning and
zoning, deed restrictions regulating the occupancy of the land,
building and plumbing codes, and insurance. The home owner
must also have adequate contracts and other legal documents, and
he must have made an adequate inspection of his house, lot and
equipment. The proper kind of community development activities
help the home owner to take advantage of the different means of
protection that are available, as well as to call the attention of
the community to the importance of maintaining, modernizing,
and otherwise developing the neighborhood. Such community
development activities also do much to retard and prevent the
depreciation of neighborhood property.
In looking forward to the development of greater protection
for the home owner, the possibilities of regulating subdivisions
ought to be carefully considered. It should be recognized that a
profound change in what home ownership means has taken place
in the minds of the American public. It is already appreciated
that unlimited freedom in the use of a lot does not give the owner
so great enjoyment of his rights as he gains when he surrenders
certain privileges in return for protection through similar surren-
ders by his neighbors. The experimental and other developments
where the home owner's rights are restricted to an unusual degree
deserve careful analysis.
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 7
Supplementary Reports
Further details supporting the committee's statements are con-
tained in a number of supplementary reports which appear here-
after as appendices to this report. The titles of these appendices
are, Home Ownership and the Business Cycle, Appendix I, page
12; Safeguarding the Home Owner's Investment, Appendix II,
page 19; and Problems in Renting, Appendix III, page 31.
Recommendations
1. Economic Information. The committee recommends that
the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture, and
other Federal departments continually support all practical move-
ments to furnish better information on the vacancy situation, cur-
rent population changes, and other types of data of value in
arriving at a better understanding of the degree of inflation or
deflation of real estate values. The furnishing of accurate and
pertinent information on cyclical conditions is believed to be one
of the greatest services that can be performed in the efforts to
bring about a greater stability of home values and home owners'
incomes.
2. Developing Popular Interest in Better Information be-
fore Purchasing. The committee recommends that the Depart-
ment of Commerce increase its efforts to develop a popular under-
standing of the need for securing more and better information
before purchasing a home. It is suggested that greater efforts
be made to call the attention of the public to the Department of
Commerce bulletins, How to Own Your Home,2 Present Home
Financing Methods* How to Judge a House,4 and Care and Repair
of the House.5 As a companion to these pamphlets the committee
is submitting a paper on Safeguarding the Home Owner's Invest-
ment, Appendix II, page 19.
The committee further recommends that, on the basis of all of
the material presented to the Conference, a master pamphlet
2 Previously cited.
3Gries, John M., and Curran, Thomas M., Washington (U. S. Bureau
of Standards), U. S. Government Printing Office, 1928.
* Perkins, Nelson S., Washington (National Committee on Wood Utiliza-
tion, U. S. Department of Commerce), U. S. Government Printing Office,
1931.
5 Phelan, Vincent B., Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday, Doran and Company,
Inc.; Washington (U. S. Bureau of Standards), U. S. Government Printing
Office, 1931.
8 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
which will list the entire range of factors that should be consid-
ered, and refer specifically to the available Conference and Gov-
ernment bulletins that would help present and prospective home
owners to solve the various problems of home ownership, be pre-
pared for popular circulation.
3. Handbook on Analyzing Local Economic Situations.
The committee recommends that the Department of Commerce
prepare a detailed handbook showing what and how information
can be used in determining where and when to buy a home. This
bulletin should include detailed examples of information that can
be gathered and tell how it can be analyzed in arriving at a better
understanding of the economic situation than is possible if such
analyses are not made. The special purpose of this handbook
would be to serve trained community leaders and advisors, as well
as prospective home owners, who wish to study such matters in
detail.
4. Trends in Home Ownership and Leasing. The commit-
tee recommends that as soon as the 1930 census data are available,
studies be made of the trends in home ownership and leasing with
reference to such classifications as locality, size of cities, races
of people, size of families, ages, kind of work done by house-
holders, urban and rural, and the like, to determine as far as pos-
sible the tendencies involved and their relation to other informa-
tion. Much of this information will be available from the census
directly, and other tendencies can be determined indirectly. A
study of this kind should furnish a basis for determining where
the greatest emphasis should be placed in later investigations.
5. City Planning and Zoning. The committee recommends
that the various organizations interested in community develop-
ment, continue to study with zeal the development in city planning
and zoning, instances where it is desired to retain unified land
ownership in a large tract, and the developments in various coun-
tries where the amount of land subdivided for residential use is
being regulated. The committee especially urges the Division of
Building and Housing of the Department of Commerce and other
organizations to watch carefully the development of efforts to
control the subdivision of land in the various parts of the world.
6. Home Financing. The committee recommends that efforts
be encouraged and continued for the purpose of reducing the cost
of financing to those for whom home ownership is sound and
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 9
desirable. Uncertain and irregular supply of credit is a grave
obstacle to successful home ownership. Such uncertainty under
the present organization is now manifested in the following ways:
1. It is, as a rule, harder for a home buyer to obtain a loan for a given
percentage of the purchase price when he wishes to buy at the bottom of
the market, rather than at the top (when credit often comes altogether too
easily).
2. A considerable proportion of home loans are now made for short terms,
for 5 years, for 3 years or even for 1 year, and in such cases, even if some
amortization payments have been made, a drop in realty values leaves the
owner with the risk of being called on to reduce substantially the principal
amount of the loan as a condition of renewal — and often at a time when he
needs the credit most.
The Committee on Home Ownership and Leasing believes that
the difficulties such as arise during periods of extensive fore-
closures might be reduced substantially through a system whereby
local lending institutions could, through a well-recognized pro-
cedure, obtain a more liquid supply of credit with which to meet
reasonable demands of their home owning and home buying
clients.6
7. Insurance. The committee finds that in the evolution of the
various forms of insurance and their regulation under the laws
of the various states, the fundamental objective of providing the
home owner with protection in case of extraordinary loss has been
overlooked in important respects. For example, fire insurance may
cover the principal hazard to the whole structure, but there are
other risks, including tornadoes, destruction by airplane, and by
runaway vehicles. The committee recommends that a study be
made under the auspices of an impartial agency of national stand-
ing, with the cooperation of authorities on underwriting, covering :
1. Risks for which home owners may reasonably expect insurance pro-
tection ;
2. The most practicable procedure by which such risks may be explained
clearly to home owners;
6 A resolution was adopted by the Conference, endorsing the suggestion of
President Hoover for the establishment of a system of home loan banks. The
President's statement appears in "Home Finance and Taxation" and the
resolution appears in "Housing Objectives and Programs," Publications of
the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Wash-
ington, 1932, Vols. II and XI, respectively. This suggestion culminated in
the enactment and approval on July 22, 1932, of the Federal Home Loan
Bank Act, providing for the discounting by mortgagees of first mortgage
paper. (Public Act No. 304, Seventy-second Congress.)
10 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
3. Forms of coverage designed to give the individual protection of all
types he desires, with the simplest possible procedure.
8. Taxation. The committee recommends that an appropriate
organization provide facilities for furnishing information and
guidance to the community leaders who wish to create public
interest in improving the local tax situation throughout the coun-
try. The committee recognizes the importance of the efforts that
are being made to reduce the amount of taxes assessed on homes.
In many cases taxes are not in a sound relation to what the home
owner can properly bear, owing to excessive expenditures for
municipal improvements.
9. Leasing Problems. The committee recommends that the
Department of Commerce continue to study and analyze the prob-
lem of renting for the purpose of furnishing information and
cooperating with those who are attempting to improve the condi-
tions of both the landlord and the tenant. This study would
involve such practical questions as tenants' reports on janitor
service and superintendent's inspection in the case of an apart-
ment, or periodic, inspection of heating systems, plumbing, roofs,
etc., in the case of a house ; improving rental contracts ; developing
an appreciation on the part of the renter of longer term tenancy;
staggering lease dates; long-term leases of land where the house
is owned by the tenant ; and including of options to buy in long-
term leases.
The renter's point of view should not be overlooked in planning
community development. The necessity for supervision of com-
munity development is felt everywhere. Some definite form of
cooperation by the builder, the architect, and the man who is
investing his capital might help to improve community conditions.
It is suggested that a board in each community, to which plans
for any construction should be submitted and approved before a
building is erected, might prove advantageous. Such a board
would study the plans in relation to architectural suitability, and
any building codes or other municipal restrictions. At present,
necessary garage space for tenants' cars and the relation of such
space to zoning laws and architectural suitability, especially for
multi-family dwellings, is an important problem. It is imperative
to give attention to recreation facilities for children in any future
HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEASING 11
community plans. A study of rent in relation to assessments
might be included in a rent survey.
10. Multiple Listing and Property Briefs. The committee
recommends to the real estate boards that they consider an expan-
sion of the practice of multiple listing. From the point of view
of the prospective buyer or renter it is a great convenience to
have the information on the greater number of houses which mul-
tiple listing provides.
The committee also urges the further consideration of the ad-
vantages of property briefs for residential properties. A property
brief, containing photographs and full description of the dwelling,
lot, etc., as well as a list of the disadvantages, enables the home
seeker to calmly and leisurely study and compare the various
properties. The important data will then not be forgotten or over-
looked.
11. Permanent Central Committee. It is recommended that
a permanent central committee be created for the purpose of
coordinating, when desirable, the home ownership work that is
being done by the various organizations, and assisting in distribut-
ing the information by radio, newspaper and magazine articles
and advertisements. It is believed that funds can be provided
for these purposes through the channels of life insurance com-
panies, mortgage lending institutions, building material companies,
and other commercial organizations which have a practical interest
in the subject.
It is suggested that it would be well to designate as this perma-
nent central committee a national organization already in operation,
which has activities, mailing lists, contacts, etc., already developed.
Such an organization, however, should be entirely independent of
any individuals or groups which might use the organization to
further their own private or commercial interests.
APPENDIX I
HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS
CYCLE
One of the greatest opportunities to improve the conditions of
home ownership arises from the fact that many people buy at high
prices during boom periods; the locations do not develop as they
expect, and they see their investments shrink materially when
business conditions decline. Hence, those interested in promoting
sound home ownership conditions may well promote the collection
of figures and facts to assist in analyzing and stabilizing cyclical
fluctuations, and help prospective home buyers to develop an ap-
preciation of true conditions in order to meet them.
Supply and Demand
Simple statements of the relation of supply to demand, when
available, are valuable in analyzing real estate situations. The
home buyer often can apply such information directly to his par-
ticular problem. Reports on dwelling vacancies or occupancies
are prepared in a number of cities, and the quality and extent of
these investigations are being improved rapidly.
In studying the relation of supply to demand, consideration
must be given to the probable future demand. Studies of popu-
lation trends, and of the economic factors that support the com-
munity, permit estimates of future demand that are of much value
in making allowances for future conditions. The use of such esti-
mates in analyzing and forecasting real estate conditions can be
illustrated by facts ascertained in a survey, made in 1924, of the
Los Angeles subdivision situation.
Population forecasts were made indicating that Los Angeles
City * would have a population of 1,250,000 in 1930, and 1,500,000
(minimum) or 2,000,000 (maximum) in 1940. From two inde-
pendent bases, the relation of population to occupied lots 2 was
determined. The estimates of future population divided by the
number of persons per occupied lot (corrected) gave the esti-
mated number of lots needed to 1930 as 54,855, and the minimum
1 Excluding outlying districts.
3 In this study, a lot was considered as occupied if it had a building on it
and, in estimates of future demand on the basis of population, corrections had
to be made for vacancies in buildings.
12
HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE 13
and maximum estimates of the number needed to 1940 as 107,367
and 212,390, respectively. The survey showed that in Los Angeles
197,208 lots already were occupied, while 156,557 were vacant.
From these figures it was easy to estimate the relation of the
existing supply of lots to the probable future demand. In other
words, the figures indicated that 6 years later (in 1930) 101,702
of the then vacant lots would still be vacant if no more lots were
subdivided, since there was a probable demand for only 54,855
lots out of the total of 156,557 that were vacant. When the esti-
mate was carried forward to 1940, the figures indicated that if no
more lots were subdivided, 49,190 lots would still be vacant on
the basis of the minimum population estimate, and there would
be a shortage of 55,833 on the basis of the maximum. Although
such figures indicated an unfavorable investment situation on the
whole, it was obvious that still greater allowances would have to
be made, because many more new subdivisions doubtless would
be laid out. This point is important, because new subdivisions in
many localities are laid out and sold through well-organized, ag-
gressive sales efforts, while the individually owned lots are not
usually pushed so aggressively, and are more apt to remain vacant.
It is difficult to say just what proportion of lots should remain
vacant for the best interests of a community. One hundred per
cent occupancy is very seldom possible. Furthermore, the pro-
portion of vacancies would normally be larger in a rapidly grow-
ing community, where the chance of gain appears relatively great.
However, it does seem unnecessary, from an economic point of
view, that a community should carry an overhead burden in vacant
lots of 44.25 per cent, as was the case in Los Angeles City (ex-
cluding outlying portions) in 1924. In the outlying districts, 62.12
per cent of the lots were vacant, and it was probable (on the
basis of the minimum and maximum demand estimates) that be-
tween 40 and 20 per cent would be vacant 16 years later in 1940,
even if no more lots were subdivided. Such a tremendous over-
head burden, carried by a community in the form of investments
in unproductive property, has an unfavorable effect upon all lines
of business.
Reasons for Expansion
In making a statistical analysis of real estate, it should be
realized that the subdivision of lots is economically justified only
when more lots are needed as sites for additional homes, business,
14 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
industries, or public purposes. Provision of new lots must include
the margin of vacant lots necessary for the laying out of large
tracts. An excessive proportion of vacant lots is an economic
drain on a community and has no advantages.
Although great profits have been made in certain instances, the
subdivision of city lots ordinarily involves large risks and danger
of unusual loss. Great risks are usually taken by people who
hope for great gains, but who often are not able to distinguish
between sound and unsound values, and who believe that they are
making safe investments. These errors in judgment are usually
caused by inaccurate and inadequate information regarding the
normal possibilities of future demand.
"There is always an element of uncertainty in such expansion due to the
fallibility of human judgment and the lack of information in regard to the
community's development. But this element of uncertainty can be and is
being reduced by more careful analysis of the growth and movement of
population, and of the trend of values which reveals the condition of the
market for home, factory, or business sites. In so far as real estate dealers
and owners seek and take advantage of more complete information of this
character, their forecasts of the needs of the community will become more
accurate, and urban developments based on these forecasts will become in-
vestments rather than bad speculation." 8
Even though a large number of old sites in a city may be vacant,
a real demand may arise for new lots, which embody the most
up-to-date practices of a modern subdivision, as to size and ar-
rangement, community features, and so forth. The progress in
providing advantages in new subdivisions tends to make obsolete
many of the older subdivisions. It may be to the interest of all
that these older lots pass permanently out of the active market,
and it is quite possible that they may revert to farm land.
Residential lot speculation is of great concern to the home
owner because it not only influences the value of his home site,
but it also strongly influences speculative building, with the result
that the value of the home owner's investment becomes less stable.
Trends, Seasonal Variations, Cycles, and Random
Movements
The importance of distinguishing between long-time trends, sea-
sonal variations, cycles, and random movements cannot be too
strongly emphasized. In most analyses, it is not necessary actually
8 Ely, Richard T., and Morehouse, Edward W., Elements of Land Eco-
nomics, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1924, p. 94.
HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE 15
to compute these changes but it is necessary in nearly all cases
to appreciate the movements, at least in a general way. If the
data are presented graphically, these different types of variations
generally can be observed to a degree that is accurate enough for
practical purposes.
Since erroneous assumptions regarding the trends and cycles
have been responsible for so many mistakes in analyzing real
estate conditions, these movements will now be considered in
some detail.
In this discussion, the terms "basic trend" and "long-time trend"
refer to the general tendency toward growth or decline over a
period of 10, 20, or more years; "seasonal variation" refers to
the annual fluctuations which tend to recur at the same time every
year; "cycles" refer to the irregular movements, which recur
every few years, commonly known as good and bad times ; and
"random movements" refer to the unusual occurrences, such as
are not recurring in nature.
Long-Time Trends. There are many conspicuous examples
of steep upward trends in real estate values. It is extremely im-
portant, in analyzing real estate values, that one discover any
change in the basic trend as soon as it occurs, if possible, and
that one should not confuse the upward swing of the business
cycle with the long-time trend. It is generally known that in-
creases in the values of lots in the large American cities have
been large and rapid during the last decade, but it is not so gen-
erally known that some of the values are less now than they were
20 years ago.
The opportunities to gain through long-time increases in city
land values are undoubtedly good in many locations, but the in-
vestor should take care that he does not pay an inflated price for a
lot in a location which has reached its peak and not only is ex-
periencing a cyclical decline, but has also had an unfavorable
change in the long-time trend.
If the basic trend of a certain residential property is upward,
it is ordinarily because the site has become more desirable. The
basic trend of the building itself is ordinarily downward, regardless
of the attention to maintenance and repairs. It should be empha-
sized, in this connection, that the owner of a home often considers
cyclical and random increases in the value to be basic trend in-
creases.
16 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The increases in the prices of lots during the period from 1913
to 1920 were emphasized by the rising general price level. Changes
in the general price level must be carefully observed in analyzing
trends of real estate prices as well as trends of other prices.
The foregoing discussion is not intended to convey the impres-
sion that investment in a home cannot be profitable ; it does indi-
cate that long-time trends should be carefully analyzed before an
investment is made; and that the upswing of a business cycle
must not be confused with the long-time trend. Many very profit-
able investments have been made in residential property and, if
the locations are carefully and skilfully analyzed, there is no rea-
son to believe that others cannot be made. However, an invest-
ment in a home should not primarily be required to yield a profit.
The investment, of course, should meet all reasonable requirements
of safety.
Real Estate Cycles. Almost every period of prosperity in this
country is accompanied by a high degree of real estate activity.
This often takes the form of a boom in certain localities. In fact,
some of our greatest booms have been those that were based on
real estate speculation. The "crowd," including some of the
most highly successful citizens of the area concerned, is carried
away by the enthusiasm which accompanies the vast increases of
wealth which are thrust upon the lucky ones. Those who actually
understand the economics of the situation are in the minority.
There have been many real estate booms in the United States
during the past 100 years. From 1834 to 1837 the valuation of
the property in Mobile, Alabama, increased from $4,000,000 to
$27,000,000. After the panic of 1837 the values decreased more
rapidly than they had risen. During this same period (a few
years before 1837) people were coming into the State of Illinois
so rapidly that it was believed that cities would spread all over
the prairie and that no farming land would be left. City lots
were laid out on what are today the most isolated farms. Lands
were sold for more than their present value, and more than fifty
times their value at that date. In 1919, farms were selling in
Iowa at $300 to $400 per acre. These same farms are now being
sold at $100 to $150 per acre.
One of the most spectacular real estate booms of recent years
was the Florida boom of 1925. In Miami, where the boom cen-
tered, business lots wrere sold at prices which were greater than
HOME OWNERSHIP AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE 17
the prices charged for the best lots in cities from ten to fifteen
times as large as Miami. It was estimated that one subdivision
of land alone, near Miami, would require approximately $1,000,-
000,000 of annual income to support the residential land values,
whereas the entire annual income of the United States at that
time amounted to only approximately $73,000,000,000. The
Florida boom also reached a high stage in many of the smaller
towns and villages. For instance, in Lake Wales, an interior town
of 2,747 persons (1925 state census), a business lot about two
blocks from the center of its business district was sold for $800
per front foot, and another lot was sold for $1,000 per front foot.
In towns of this size, a business enterprise can seldom produce
enough in a specific location to warrant paying more than a few
thousand dollars for the entire lot. From the overoptimistic sit-
uation which accompanied the boom, Florida appears to have
passed abruptly into a severe period of depression. The state has
in its undeveloped land, mineral, climate, and beach resources,
factors making for an upward tendency in long-time growth, and
the depressed conditions may be as unrepresentative as were the
conditions of the preceding boom.
Random Movements in Real Estate. In analyzing real estate
cycles, it is necessary to make a careful distinction between major
and minor cycles. The minor cycles may recur every few years,
but the major cycles may occur only once or twice during a busi-
ness generation and sometimes they do not occur this often, when
for practical purposes they may be more properly classified as
random movements. The type of boom which a community may
experience on account of the building of a railroad, or the open-
ing up of new lands in some instances, may never be repeated,
and, consequently, it is important to recognize that such a boom
is not cyclical. More extreme examples of random movements
are the booms which accompany the development and exhaustion
of natural resources, such as the oil booms in various fields in
Oklahoma, Texas, and California, or the mining booms which
cause such cities as Rhyolite, Nevada,4 to flourish and decline.
The determination of whether a boom is cyclical or random de-
pends upon whether or not the natural resources and other fac-
tors are such that the condition can be repeated. Florida, for
* Rhyolite, once a city of some 10,000 population, is now a city of empty
buildings.
18 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
instance, still has the same climate, the same advantageous loca-
tion, and the same other economic factors which constituted the
principal bases for the development which resulted in the boom of
1925 and, therefore, it is practically certain that other cycles will
follow, though it may be some time before there occurs another
boom which will be as extreme as the last one. Rhyolite, on the
other hand, no longer has the mineral resources, as far as is
known, and has no other bases for development. Its boom was
distinctly a random one and, consequently, cannot be expected to
recur. In the development of most communities, however, cyclical
and random movements occur together, and though it is not pos-
sible to isolate the two movements completely, they should be de-
termined as accurately as possible.5
Securing Expert Advice on Economic Conditions
The average citizen, having no special training in making many
of the analyses discussed, should seek competent advice when con-
sidering the purchase of a home. As heretofore suggested, the
savings banks, title and mortgage companies, trust departments of
banking institutions, building and loan associations, and builders
or realtors of long standing, having no interest in the sale of the
property, are the avenues which can be used by the home buyer
to secure information on the basic conditions surrounding his pur-
chase. It follows that it is the duty of those who wish to enjoy
this confidence on the part of the home purchaser, to prepare
themselves so that they can give sound advice on economic con-
ditions.
Conclusion
The prospective home owner should, as a rule, avoid lots in un-
improved subdivisions, i. e., those not having improved streets and
sidewalks, water, electricity and other utilities, and lots in improved
subdivisions when he does not have available funds and definite
plans for building a home in the near future. The purchase of
a house and lot in a developed subdivision should be made only
after securing advice and information as outlined above.
5 Part of the illustrative material in the preceding discussion on Supply
and Demand, Reasons for Expansion, Basic Trend, Seasonal Variation,
Cycles, and Random Movements, has been abstracted from Riggleman, John
R., and Frisbee, Ira N., Business Statistics, New York, McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1931.
APPENDIX II
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT
One of the first questions that the prospective home buyer
should consider is whether or not home buying is a good invest-
ment. The home purchaser should not buy with the expectation
of appreciation in value, but he may take certain steps which will
safeguard his property against depreciation.
Home Ownership Is an Incentive to Save
One of the most powerful arguments in favor of home buying
as an investment is the strong incentive to save that accompanies
the purchase of a home. People will economize on various things
in order to pay for a home when they will not save otherwise.
The importance of obligating oneself to save should be clearly
appreciated. For an equity cannot be liquidated readily, and may
furnish the influence necessary to make one build up his savings.
Buying at a Favorable Time
Success in acquiring a home depends not only upon selecting
the right kind of a building and community in which to live, but
is dependent as much upon choosing the time of buying and the
manner of payment.
In the final analysis of supply and demand, in real estate as in
all other lines of business, there are cycles of inflation and like-
wise of deflation. It is perhaps unnecessary to enter into an
analytical discussion of the underlying economic laws, if the one
central thought involved can be brought to the sober attention of
the prospective home buyer, i. e., that periods of boom values
should be avoided or considered with extreme caution, and that
communities in which there is a scarcity of supply naturally tend
to have higher levels of values than other areas. During a boom
period the prospective home buyer should accumulate savings
with which to purchase his home at a more expedient time. There
are periods when an oversupply of residential construction is cre-
ated because the anticipation of a community's ability to absorb
all of the structures which are erected is too optimistic. There-
fore, the inability to rent or sell brings down the level of prices.
The ordinary home buyer "follows the crowd" and makes his
purchase at a time when, by reason of the excitement of boom
periods, the great masses of people are minded to buy.
19
20 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
It is, ordinarily, in periods of price recession that the most ad-
vantageous purchases can be made, and the person of courage and
vision can acquire a home at a cost which will normally stand the
shock of deflation with better stability than a purchase made dur-
ing so-called boom periods. It becomes advisable, therefore, for
the home seeker to analyze carefully the community in which he
desires to locate, to ascertain the number of vacant buildings, to
find out how long they have stood idle, and to consider, as keenly
as possible, the ability of the community to absorb the space
already existing. He should also determine by a careful inquiry
the range of prices over a period of several years so as to demon-
strate to himself that they have been sufficiently stabilized and
that the broad basis of cost to him will be sound over a subsequent
period of years.
In determining when to buy, the home seeker has to weigh the
following four factors and strike a balance:
1. When to buy with relation to the economic and financial status of him-
self and family. When the market is ripe he, personally, may not be in a
good position to take advantage of it.
2. When to buy with relation to the particular community and its stage of
development. His favorite community may be just going into a stage of
decline.
3. When to buy with relation to the season of the year. (This involves
such factors as high seasonal demand for space and seasonal employment of
the home purchaser.)
4. When to buy with relation to general economic and business conditions.
The home buyer's task of determining the situation in relation
to the preceding four factors includes the consideration of the
ratio of his annual income to what he can afford in the way of a
house, and what he can afford to maintain; how much he has in
reserve ; how much he has to have in reserve when taking on the
responsibility of home ownership ; how much equity money he can
afford to put into the house ; and in general the financial and social
relationship of home ownership responsibility to his other responsi-
bilities. The fourth factor (favorable buying time) is undoubtedly
the most difficult of all to determine and is liable to be the most
costly in case it is not decided upon correctly.
Neighborhood
The surrounding neighborhood has a strong influence upon the
value and desirability of a particular home. The general standards
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT 21
of the neighborhood should be studied, and careful consideration
given to present as well as future conditions. Regard should be
paid to the extent to which the community has been developed
and to the reasonable expectancy of future development. Other
things being equal, a location in a progressive community, where
buildings and grounds are well kept and neighbors are desirable,
will suffer the least depreciation, as well as yield the most pleasure
to the home owner.
Selecting the Location
In determining whether a certain location will satisfy a fam-
ily's particular requirements and represent a secure investment,
the prudent home buyer must, on the basis of his own experience,
or that of an honest and skilled advisor, assure himself :
1. That the section in which he is locating is appropriate to his scale of
living and prospects, and that it is reasonably safeguarded against deteriora-
tion.
2. That the nearness, location, equipment, and teaching standards of the
schools are satisfactory, both for the present and future needs of the family.
3. That educational, shopping, transportation, amusement, religious and
recreational facilities are adequate.
4. That police and fire protection are adequate.
5. That water supply, sewerage, and sanitary facilities have been provided,
or if they are to be provided in the future, that the approximate cost be
determined ; and that assessments for street improvements, sewer, sidewalks,
etc., have been paid before the transfer of the property, that they are included
in the price of the property to be paid off with the monthly or other pay-
ments, or that other satisfactory arrangements for their payment have been
made.
6. That the title of the property is clear.
7. That tax rates are reasonable and are not apt to increase excessively.
8. That the purchase can be financed on a reasonable basis.
9. That the price of the property is reasonable both in relation to location
and time of purchase.
Style *
In selecting a house, style must be given careful attention. This
is important to insure the safety of an investment. Rigid rules
for determining desirable styles cannot be laid down, but styles
and designs which may turn out to be passing fads instead of per-
manent in nature should be avoided. This does not mean that all
1 See "House Design, Construction and Equipment," Publications of the
President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Vol. V,
Pt. I, App. V.
22 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
new designs, layouts, and arrangements should be avoided, but
they should be carefully considered as to whether or not they are
likely to be desirable over a long period of time.
Necessity for Careful Examination of Ready-Built House
One of the pitfalls of home buying is the failure properly to
determine the physical condition of the building purchased. The
everyday citizen, not engaged in the building trades, ordinarily
lacks the ability and knowledge necessary to know whether the
structure has been properly and soundly built. Unless the buyer
has special proficiency, it becomes vitally important to have the
honest advice of a competent judge as to the condition of the prop-
erty; otherwise after the ownership begins, numerous hidden de-
fects may be discovered. Heating may be found to be inadequate,
roofs and \valls neither wind- nor water-tight, and many frailties
may appear which increase the cost of repairing to a point beyond
the original contemplation of the buyer, and frequently, beyond
his ability to pay.
The calm buyer, who makes a thoughtful job of acquiring a
home, will save -himself a great many difficulties if he will have
one or more competent persons or firms make a detailed survey
of the structure. It may be difficult, in some small communities,
to follow out any general plan or procedure, but in almost every
community of any size, this advice can be obtained. Information
as to who can be depended upon to make reliable inspections and
valuations can often be obtained from responsible officials of sav-
ings banks, of the trust departments of national or state banks,
and building and loan associations.
The cost of such examinations ordinarily would not exceed one
per cent of the purchase price of the property (frequently it is
much less), and should not deter the buyer from procuring good
inspection.
Preliminary Cautions in House Building
If the owner builds a new house, the close and continuous in-
spection of a building in the course of construction is one of the
safeguards upon which he must insist. In those cases in which
the home buyer contracts to purchase a home that is in the course
of construction, it is vitally essential that he have independent
architectural advice as to the quality of the work to be done under
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT 23
the plans and specifications and to insure the completion of the
building pursuant to such plans. The erection of a structure is a
complicated process, and the variety of qualities, both of work and
material, are innumerable, requiring the investor cautiously to
check the progress of the building work.2
Before actually starting the work of construction the prospective
home builder should be assured of the following:
1. That the plans for the house are well worked out and will result in a
structure that will be attractive to others in the event sale is advisable.
2. That, if future extensions to the house are contemplated, the initial plans
have been drawn in proper anticipation of such extensions.
3. That the plans, as drawn, meet the requirements of building codes and
local restrictions on the property.
4. That the specifications are complete for a house ready for occupancy
or that any exceptions are clearly noted; and also that the specifications in-
clude an irrevocable blanket clause providing that no bills for extras shall
be valid, without prior written understanding with the owner as to nature
and amount.
5. That the specifications are such as to require minimum maintenance
costs and costs of operation.
6. That the contractor has a reputation for doing sound and conscientious
work and is considered financially responsible by local authorities.
7. That the contract clearly specifies the basis and amounts of payments,
and the contractor's responsibility for fire and employees' liability insurance
while the building is under construction, and for defective work or omissions
discovered after acceptance of the property by the owner.
8. That the property is subject to final inspection by the owner before the
final payment is made.
9. That the above agreements or legal obligations have been approved by
competent legal advisors.
Many other suggestions of importance to prospective home own-
ers will be found in the Department of Commerce bulletins How
to Own Your Home, cited on page 1, and How to Judge a House,
cited below.
Budgeting the Purchase
The home buyer should make a rational study of his own finan-
cial strength if his investment is to be secure. If he has a stead-
fast determination to obligate himself only for those amounts which
he has a reasonable expectancy of being able to pay in a reasonable
2 Regarding architectural and other features, consult Perkins, Nelson S.,
Hoiv to Judge a House, Washington (National Committee on Wood Utiliza-
tion, U. S. Department of Commerce), U. S. Government Printing Office,
1931.
24 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
period on the basis of his present income, he will ordinarily make
a success of home purchasing. Often the great reason for dis-
satisfaction in home owning is that home buyers violate the prin-
ciple that no man should buy a home unless he can make an ade-
quate down payment and unless he is given ample time in which to
honor his mortgage obligations.
Mortgages and Their Renewals
In connection with the matter of financing the purchase, con-
siderable difficulty arises and equities are frequently lost because
of the failure to take into consideration what will happen to the
mortgage obligations on the property at the time they mature. Fre-
quently the terms of the first mortgage provide for amortization
or reduction of the principal. If there is a second mortgage, it
may be payable at the rate of so much per month, or in quarterly
or semi-annual instalments, and the seller generally desires that
the final payment on the second mortgage shall be at the earliest
possible moment.
The average home buyer does not take into consideration that
the first mortgage may mature before the second mortgage ma-
tures and that there may be some difficulty in renewing the first
mortgage obligation, for the reason that the holder of the mortgage
may not wish to renew it, or may wish to renew it for a smaller
sum, because of possible changes in values. Care must be exer-
cised, therefore, to be assured that a renewal will be possible under
reasonable circumstances and that the cost of obtaining a renewal
will be nominal.
The prospective home owner should obtain responsible legal ad-
vice to determine that the sequence of maturity dates of the mort-
gages on his property is such that he will experience no embarrass-
ment or difficulty when it becomes necessary to renew any of the
mortgages.
The second mortgage should be for a term sufficient to make
payments required thereunder, within the ability of the buyer.
Maturities within short periods generally involve a necessity for
renewal, and total charges for renewal and interest are sometimes
high and usurious. If, in addition to the above payments, the cost
of public improvements must be paid over a period of years, the
principal and interest required annually under these payments
should be taken into consideration.
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT 25
The buyer should recognize that the smaller the down pay-
ment, the higher will be the costs of financing, and when pur-
chasing upon as small a margin as 10 per cent, he should be
especially careful to secure competent legal and financial advice.
Difficulties in home buying sometimes result from the inability
of the home owner to pay the interest on the mortgages, as well
as the reduction in principal when required. In order to meet the
annual and other interest payments readily, it is advisable that he
carefully prepare a budget, and lay aside a certain amount every
month, so that the required sums will be available when needed.3
Cost of Improvements
If the assessments for municipal improvements have not been
paid, the home buyer should make every effort to induce the seller
to pay for the cost of the improvements and include such cost in
the price of the property. In buying subject to assessments the
buyer assumes responsibility for an additional lien against the
property. It is then virtually subject to three mortgages, because
the lien for the assessments is superior to those of the first and
second mortgages.
If the municipal improvements (curbing, grading, flagging,
water connections, sewering) have not been installed, the home
buyer should make inquiry as to the approximate cost of these im-
provements, when they will be made, the length of time permitted
for payment, the interest rate on the unpaid portion of the assess-
ments pending, and the amount payable annually over the period
allotted, which is generally about 10 years. These principles apply
whether the improvements are installed by private or public in-
strumentality and also whether they are made by a city, county,
or other unit of government. In making these inquiries, an authen-
tic source should be used, generally some competent official having
jurisdiction, and no reliance should be placed upon mere opinion.
Taxes, Insurance, Maintenance and Other Costs
The home buyer should be careful to measure his ability to pay
not only the interest on, and principal of, mortgages and assess-
ments, but also the taxes, insurance, water rates and the reason-
8 For other suggestions on financing the purchase of a home see Gries,
John M., and Curran, Thomas M., Present Home Financing Methods, Wash-
ington (U. S. Department of Commerce). U. S. Government Printing Of-
fice, 1928,
26 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
able cost of keeping the physical condition of the property in a
state of fair maintenance. To facilitate paying taxes and other
important charges, it is advisable to prepare a budget plan which
will provide for monthly payments to be accumulated in a tax or
other fund.
Speculative Prospect of Appreciation
One of the common arguments advanced by those in the business
of selling residential property has been the holding out of the hope
that substantial profits would result by reason of the increase in
the value of the property. The decision to buy a home should
not in any way depend upon making profits out of buying a home
for resale. In urging the family having competent purchasing
ability to consider home ownership, it is not within the scope of
this discussion to consider speculative purchasing, nor is it intended
to indicate that any particular kind of location or type of purchase
will eventually produce a profit on resale. The satisfactions of
home ownership do not depend upon making money out of holding
the property. And the purchaser should realize the depreciation of
his house is a normal circumstance that accompanies its use over a
period of time.
City Planning, Zoning, and Deed Restrictions
The buying of a home, like the making of any other worth
while investment, involves the necessity not only of prudent con-
duct in the initial process of home buying but also involves a con-
tinuing effort to protect the investment. This not only has a bear-
ing upon maintaining and enhancing the value of the purchase, but
it increases the benefits of home owning by a careful regard for
the interests of the community as a whole. Before purchasing,
due inquiry should be made regarding the regulations enforced by
the planning and zoning commissions of the municipality, the ex-
tent to which the area involved has undergone an orderly develop-
ment by planning and zoning, and the extent to which the use of
property is limited by deed and other restrictions.
Proper zoning is an important part of good city planning and
ultimately results in safeguarding the home from the depreciation
which the unrestricted erection of various types of undesirable
structures would normally cause. It therefore becomes essential
to know exactly to what uses the surrounding area can be put and
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT 27
whether or not the zoning and planning are sound and the method
of enforcement is practical.
The most successful home owner is the man who jealously
watches any infringement upon the character of the neighborhood
in which he has chosen a home and who will resist to the full limit
of his ability any attack upon the standards of the community in
which he has located his family. From a wide-visioned standpoint,
he develops and fosters his own appreciation of his property by
showing an active interest in any change in the planning and zon-
ing programs and by protesting vigorously on his own account and
assembling his neighbors to do likewise when any action is to be
taken which will destroy the inherent value of his property as a
desirable residence.
In many places no real progress on the subject of planning and
zoning has been made and the only safeguard upon which the
home buyer can rely is to assure himself that the area in which
his prospective home is located has been properly restricted by
private agreement. The subject of legal effect of such restrictions
is too large to admit of treatment here. The buyer, however,
should inquire before making the purchase as to whether by deed
or other document his property and the adjoining parcels in the
necessary radius are subject to appropriate restrictive agreements.
For this purpose he should know mainly just what area is covered
by the restrictive plan and what details are included in the restric-
tive agreements. These agreements should cover a sufficiently
wide territory to insure against the depreciation of the property
by the incoming of undesirable occupants or the building of in-
ferior structures. The fabric of the agreements should be de-
signed to prevent the erection of any type of building in the area
which would constitute a nuisance or the erection or maintenance
of which would tend to destroy or lower the standard of the
neighborhood.
The period during which the restrictions are operative also
should be considered carefully because, if the original restrictive
plan was made so far in the past that the agreements have run
out or will run out shortly, deflation in the value of the property
may follow. To determine the probable effects of zoning and
planning ordinances and regulations, of restrictions contained in
deeds, or of agreements made by the owners in the area that may
28 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
not be contained in any deed, often requires competent legal or
other expert advice.
Insurance
An important protection to the home owner's investment is
proper insurance. The home owner must study carefully his re-
quirement from the standpoint of the types of insurance to be
carried and the amount of the coverage. The types ordinarily
needed for protection are as follows :
1. Fire insurance in an amount which would represent the reproduction
value of the building.
2. It is frequently advisable, in addition to fire insurance, to carry wind,
storm, or earthquake insurance.
3. If there are employees, such as handy men, gardeners, or other house
servants, workmen's compensation insurance should be considered.
4. To protect the owner against damage suits by reason of injuries to the
public, liability insurance should be considered.
The policies should be examined to see whether they adequately
cover the risks against which the owner wishes to be insured.
When the property is mortgaged, the general practice is that the
insurance policies-are held by the lending institution and the owner
generally does not see the policies. He should, therefore, make
arrangements with the lender to inspect the original policies or
secure a memorandum of the contents, so that he may know what
obligations are imposed upon him, and guard himself against a
voiding of the protection.
The home owner might profitably consider the value of carry-
ing life insurance for a term to cover any remaining mortgages
in the event of death. Or he may wish to carry an endowment
policy so that in any event, at the end of a stated period, the funds
will be available when needed to pay off mortgages.
Importance of Adequate Legal Advice
The prospective owner is cautioned to consider the advisability
of employing competent legal counsel. In selecting a lawyer, he
may often obtain valuable assistance by conferring with responsible
officials in his savings bank or in the lending institutions with
which he may be arranging for home financing. The cost of this
protection, which should be ascertained in advance of employing
counsel, should not deter the prospective home owner. The most
costly losses involved in building and buying a home are generally
SAFEGUARDING THE HOME INVESTMENT 29
incurred through neglecting to make the proper investigations
before buying, to have it built according to a carefully thought
out plan, and to safeguard it against legal difficulties. The dis-
criminating home owner will attend to these details in a calm and
constructive way; he will not be deterred by the reasonable over-
head of having his interests properly, ably, and honestly watched
in a disinterested manner.
Improvement of Home Premises
One of the principal and most immediate results of the owner-
ship of a house and "yard" lies in the interest which the family
takes in protecting and improving the property. This, in itself,
is a contribution to the appearance of the neighborhood and main-
tenance of values in the community. In some people the desire
to plant and tend gardens is so marked that it is exercised even
on rented properties if there is a yard to cultivate ; but the incen-
tive to make a beautiful garden, to plant perennials and more
permanent trees and shrubs is much greater where homes are
owned.
Attention to Maintenance and Modernizing
If a home owner is to keep his investment intact, he should
give careful attention to keeping his property up to date and in
good condition through such desirable modernizing features as are
feasible and possible. Very often slight alterations may be made
in features which were thought to be desirable when the house
was built. Attention given to such things, as well as to proper
painting and repair of the various parts of the building, even to
changing the layout of some of the internal portions, often adds
much to the value of the property.4
Community Improvement Through Cooperative Effort
There are many ways in which communities, through coopera-
tive effort, can increase the value of the home owners' investment.
Very often the apparent advantages of, let us say, apartment
* As a valuable source of suggestions as to how to make the usual repairs
in proper maintenance see Phelan, Vincent B., Care and Repair of the House,
Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc. ; Washington
(U. S. Bureau of Standards), U. S. Government Printing Office, 1931. See
also "Housing and the Community, Home Repair and Remodeling," Pub-
lications of the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Owner-
ship, Washington, 1932, Vol. VIII, Pt. II.
30 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
houses, are possible because of certain large-scale operations —
that is, the heating plant or janitor service can be furnished for
the whole building at a small cost per apartment. This idea can
be carried into single- family houses by cooperative community
effort. Cooperative service of this type can often be obtained at
a small cost. If the home owners so desire, they can have heat
furnished, lawns mowed, janitor service and the like and pay but
little more for such service per house than the apartment dweller
would pay for service in a comparable apartment.
In addition to the physical improvement of the neighborhood,
which usually comes through home ownership, the cooperative
community action to effect improvements in schools, libraries, rec-
reational facilities, streets, parkways, shopping and marketing
centers, transit and public utility service, and other matters of
common interest, is apt to be more marked in neighborhoods of
home owners than in tenant districts. In modern metropolitan
life, owners of homes living in neighborhood units within the city
limits or in the suburbs, by reason of the comparatively stable
tenure, are in fact able to cooperate more effectively than in neigh-
borhoods where apartment dwellers or house renters change from
year to year. High turnover in community citizenship is as costly
to the community as high labor turnover is to the business of a
commercial or industrial plant.
Home Owners' Interest in Government
Probably nothing creates greater stability in government than
a wide distribution of property ownership on the part of the
people interested in that government. Increased home ownership
would establish a larger responsible electorate. If we could count
on an average of 75 per cent of the population living in owned
homes, we should always have a safe majority of our people with
a social and financial stake in the neighborhood community. This
would undoubtedly be reflected in sounder judgments regarding
candidates for office who might be selected from the community,
and in a better understanding of local government and business
problems on which voters must express their opinions. In this
way home ownership would probably contribute to a better in-
formed citizenry as well as to a more stable and responsible elec-
torate.
Courtesy of Buhl Foundation Photographs by Rembrandt Studios
Chatham Village, Pittsburgh. A development of one-family houses in group
and row arrangement. These houses are designed to rent to families of
moderate income.
APPENDIX III
PROBLEMS OF RENTING
I. The Tenant's Problems
The importance of the renting problem in the United States is
indicated by the fact that over one-half of the families in the coun-
try live in rented homes. There is a wide variation, however, in
the rental situation among the different cities of the country. Ac-
cording to the 1920 census, in cities of 100,000 or more inhabi-
tants, the proportions rented ranged from 97.9 per cent in Man-
hattan Borough, New York City, to 48.9 per cent in Des Moines,
Iowa. Over four-fifths of the homes were rented in greater New
York, Boston, Cambridge, Fall River, Jersey City, and New York
City. Slightly less than half of the homes were rented in Des
Moines and Grand Rapids. The proportions rented in other cities
of this group ranged between one-half and four-fifths.
The Individual's Problem of Renting or Owning
The question of whether or not one rents is an individual one.
The chief reasons which influence one to rent are that he desires
freedom of movement; that he is unable to arrange a sound plan
for purchasing; that he feels that it is cheaper to rent; that he
questions home ownership as an investment ; and that he does not
wish to undertake the obligation of paying for a home.
Renting solves the problem of adjusting cost of housing to needs
and income for many people better than ownership can. The renter
ordinarily feels that he is more capable of judging a fair rental
price than a fair purchase price. He has less to lose if he makes
a mistake in judgment. Fear of the outcome of his negotiations,
perhaps based on experience of his friends, deters many an inex-
perienced householder from owning.
Many renters, however, look upon these reasons for renting as
temporary ones and are planning to own their own homes even-
tually. As one renter states:
"But there are other conditions under which it is desirable to own one's
house, and we are already planning to build. This we will do as soon as
we are able to finance the purchase properly, when my remaining here is
more certain, and when construction work and the real estate market are
deflated."
31
32 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Choosing the Type of Dwelling
The renter has many types of dwellings from which to choose
and he must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of these dif-
ferent types and strike a balance between the best combination of
desirable features on the one hand and their cost on the other.
Yard and garden space, out-of-door playspace, light and ventila-
tion, and workspace, are usually most satisfactorily secured in a
single-family house community. The apartment house, however,
makes a strong appeal because of the janitor service, heating serv-
ice, and in many instances, because of better equipment and supe-
rior interior finish. To those who have had experience in living in
apartment houses, the security felt in living above the first floor
is a desirable feature. Another advantage is the convenience in
such instances as when the family wishes to leave the home for a
few days in the winter time and does not have to bother about
draining water pipes, etc.
Row houses, and two-family houses are ordinarily considered
in between the detached single- family house and the apartment
house, as far as desirability is concerned. Very often the home
seeker's requirement as to cost and location are such that he can
get the most satisfactory combination of factors in relation to in-
come by sacrificing some of the advantages of single- family houses,
or of apartment houses, and realize more satisfaction in the long
run by living in one of the other types of structures.
Like the prospective home owner, the renter of a house should
make, or have made, a careful examination of the structure in
order to avoid a leaky roof, wet basement, unsatisfactory heating
equipment, and the like. Although the tenant may have the privi-
lege of calling upon the landlord to make good such defects, the
discovery of them after he has occupied the dwelling often results
in unsatisfactory relations with the landlord.
When renting accommodations in a multi- family house, one
should check as many of the previously mentioned items as are
applicable and, in addition, should observe such factors as sound-
proofing of walls and floors, and any tendency for water to come
through the ceiling from the next story above.
How Much to Pay
In determining how much he should pay for rent, the tenant
should take into consideration any differences in facilities furnished
and costs of operation. One should pay less rent for a single-
PROBLEMS OF RENTING 33
family house, where he must furnish heat, mow lawns, care for
sidewalks, and pay for water, than he should for a comparable
apartment where the cost of these items is included in the rent.
In a similar manner, the differences should be checked in compar-
ing the other types of houses under consideration.
Determining the Location
The renter's problem of determining the location of his home is
simpler than that of the prospective home owner for the reason
that he does not have to determine community trends from an in-
vestment point of view. He simply needs to make a list of the
desired facilities, and then find the location which has the best
combination of those facilities. In selecting a location, he must
assure himself :
1. That the section in which he is locating is appropriate to his scale of
living and prospects.
2. That the nearness, location, equipment, and teaching standards of the
schools are satisfactory.
3. That educational, shopping, transportation, amusement, religious and
recreational facilities are adequate.
4. That police and fire protection are adequate.
5. That proper water supply, sewerage, and sanitary facilities have been
provided.
6. That the landlord actually has the authority to lease the property ac-
cording to the terms agreed upon.
7. That the rental is reasonable both in relation to the location and the
period of the lease.
Time of Leasing
When making a lease, the tenant should take into considera-
tion both the general business situation and the time of the year.
In periods of depression the tenant can often take advantage
of the low rent situation for the time being, but he should not be
misled into thinking that he can rent at similar rates throughout
the following period of prosperity unless he has a long-term lease
covering the prosperity period. In making such a long-term lease
during depression periods, the renter may have to pay a rate
for the entire period that would be higher than the current rates
for month-to-month or short-term leases, but the rate would
ordinarily be somewhat lower than if the lease were made during
a period of prosperity.
In some cities annual leases expire in various months of the
year, while in others there is a tendency to adhere to a single
34 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
leasing date. The staggering of leases so that they expire at dif-
ferent times of the year is an advantage to tenants for the reason
that they have a greater choice when it is necessary for them to
select new accommodations. Furthermore, they are able to get
better service from the moving-van and public utilities companies,
and they can be better taken care of by their landlords as they are
getting settled in their new homes.
The Landlord
The renter often finds it of considerable advantage to study
carefully the characteristics of his prospective landlord. A land-
lord who appreciates reasonable efforts on the part of the tenant
to maintain his property, and one who is likely to make reason-
able repairs, will do much to make the occupancy of the particular
home pleasant.
Terms
A point often overlooked by members of a family who find it
desirable to lease a home is that it often pays them to select one
so carefully that it can be occupied for a period of several, or
many, years. This enables the occupant to take a larger part
in community life, and it cuts down the cost of moving, which
constitutes a considerable expense to those who move frequently.
It is a common occurrence that those who do not wish to be tied
down to a single location for one reason or another, often find
themselves staying in the same city for a period of many years.
In such instances it is desirable not only that the renter select a
house and location that would be satisfactory for this period, but
that he have a security of tenure which would allow him to stay
as long as he wishes under certain terms. In many such instances,
however, if the tenant leases the dwelling for 1 year, obtaining
an option to renew for a period of 1 or 2 years at the same
terms, he can enjoy sufficient security of tenure to enable him
to make improvements so peculiar to his own desires that he does
not feel justified in asking the landlord for them, and he can
enjoy many advantages that the month-to-month or short-term
tenant could not have. Such an arrangement would, for instance,
give him an opportunity to develop a garden, even to raising
perennials and shrubs if he desired to do so.
The tenant should not overlook the opportunity that he has, in
leasing under such terms, to practice his garden hobbies, and to
gain experience that will be valuable training, or background, if
PROBLEMS OF RENTING 35
he later purchases his own home. It is sometimes advisable in
arranging terms to go a step further, and lease a house for periods
of 5, 10, 15, or more years. It is often desirable to include in a
long-term lease an option to buy.
In long-term leases of space in apartments or other multi-family
dwellings, it is particularly important to include a description of
the conditions under which the tenant may cancel a lease, because
of unsatisfactory service, insufficient maintenance, unbearable
neighbors in the same building, improper ventilation, and develop-
ments that destroy the character of the neighborhood.
Services Furnished
In renting a home it is important to have a definite understand-
ing in writing regarding the services to be furnished, such as heat,
light, water, janitor service, and waste disposal. There should be
a clear understanding when or under what circumstances the heat
should be turned on, when hot water should be available, and
what furniture and equipment are included (if the house or apart-
ment is furnished), and the contract should definitely include the
penalties applicable or options to be exercised by a renter in case
the landlord fails to carry out his part of the agreement. Certain
minimum requirements are generally regulated by law, but it is
often advisable to cover the individual's particular requirements in
a written contract.
Repairs
When the renter leases a house it is usually a wise procedure
to include a memorandum of all promised repair work in the lease.
In this connection the attitude of the renter toward repair work
may be considered. Many of the small odd jobs around the house,
such as sticking doors, leaking faucets, loose screens, and the like
could be repaired by the householder himself if he owned his home.
If the renter is at all handy in making such repairs, it is prac-
tically as easy for him to make the repairs as it is to go to the effort
of having the landlord do the work for him. In such instances the
landlord usually appreciates the tenant's efforts and is more willing
to make the major repairs. In some instances the tenant who is
handy at repair work can readily arrange to keep a house in repair
in return for a month or two of free rent.
It is in connection with the maintenance of a home and making
of minor repairs that the tenant has one of his best opportunities
to show a cooperative attitude. If the landlord is at all reason-
36 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
able, it pays the tenant well to make himself such a desirable tenant
that the landlord does not want to lose him.
Importance of Legal Advice
The prospective renter, especially if he is planning a long-term
lease, is cautioned to consider the advisability of. employing com-
petent legal counsel. The renter should ordinarily have the pro-
visions of his proposed lease explained to him in relation to local
leasing laws. It is a common custom for the landlord to draw up
the leasing agreements and naturally the tendency is that leases
favor the landlord rather than the renter. In order to guard
against such contingencies as the house being sold over his head
with a week's notice to vacate, one should secure competent help to
protect his own interests when the terms of the lease are being
determined.
II. The Landlord's Problems
Problems of the landlord vary widely with the different types
of dwellings and with different classes of tenants. It will be the
object in the present discussion to consider some of the more im-
portant problems concerning the landlord.
Building or Buying an Apartment House
The prospective builder or buyer of an apartment house should
carefully consider the following factors in connection with his
project :
1. Convenience and comfort of occupants.
2. Economical utilization of space.
3. Most effective use of materials and design.
4. Good layout on lots — adequate open space.
5. Permanence.
Examination of present apartment house structures indicates
that many of them were built without adequate consideration of
these factors. It is important that the arrangement and size of the
rooms be such that they can be efficiently used. They must be of
adequate size, with satisfactory closet capacity, but there must be
no area that the tenant would consider as waste, for the landlord
has difficulty in charging rent on such space. The apartment
owner must obtain effective use of materials and design, so that
he has a satisfactory structure, which is built in accordance with
the local building regulations. Some local building codes require
PROBLEMS OF RENTING 37
the use of much more material than is necessary to meet the re-
quirements of safety.
Too many apartment houses are not so laid out, in relation to
the lot, that the most satisfactory use is made of the available
space. Unless the open space is adequate for light and ventila-
tion, much of the rentable area will be unsatisfactory. An apart-
ment house should be built so that it will not require immediate
or extensive alterations — interior or exterior. A careful con-
sideration of the details in this regard makes it possible to build
an apartment house which has a practical degree of permanence.
Many apartments have been built by speculative builders who
sell them to others for operation. This practice has resulted in
a lack of study of the factors mentioned, and many of the apart-
ment houses now standing are inferior to those that are built with
an adequate consideration of the different factors of importance
to the tenant. A speculative apartment, however, will still offer
competition which must be met by the more carefully built apart-
ment houses.
Service
The apartment house landlord, if he is to keep his space filled,
must give much attention to service. It is not enough to have the
interest of the tenants at heart in a general way, but it is impor-
tant to check up on the reactions of the tenants by a system of
reports, in order that their wishes may be satisfied. One land-
lord uses the following report form in order to determine whether
the janitor service, hot water, heat, etc., have been satisfactory.
Occupant's Monthly Report on Janitor Service
(Date)
Property Apartment No
Condition of front halls
Condition of service porches
Has heat been satisfactory for past month ?
Has hot water been satisfactory for past month ?
Have you any suggestions or recommendations for the betterment of janitor
service of this apartment ?
Name
38 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The preceding form gives the manager a monthly check upon
the individual reactions of his tenants. His tenants are furnished
with the janitor's and superintendent's telephone numbers and an
emergency number for engineering service as part of the service
to insure ample heat and hot water at all times.
Houses and Small Multiple Dwellings
The landlord who leases houses and small multiple dwellings
ordinarily has problems of layout, economical utilization of space,
and use of materials similar to those of the landlord of the larger
apartment house but ordinarily he does not have the same prob-
lems of furnishing service. Furthermore, the landlord of the
house and small multiple dwelling often finds it impossible to
give his property the same close supervision that is possible on the
part of the landlord of the larger apartment house. It is, there-
fore, more to his interest to secure the cooperation of his tenants
in maintaining the property. The development of friendly re-
lationships will do much in solving this problem and here again
the renter who is handy with tools and will make minor repairs
may be able to obtain more easily the necessary major repairs.
Garage for Tenant
In all kinds of rental dwelling districts, especially in apartment
house districts, the problem of garage space is a very important
one. In many instances the zoning laws are such that convenient
commercial garages cannot be provided. A solution that will
meet this problem in all localities has not yet been worked out,
but it is probable that in many cases the zoning laws will have to
be changed to permit the right kind of strictly storage-garage
structure to be erected in residential districts and to provide for
the furnishing of more garage space in the basements of large
apartment houses.
Staggering Leasing Dates
From the point of view of the landlord it is important that all
leases should not expire on the same date. Staggering of leasing
dates makes it possible for landlords to more conveniently take
care of repairs and the moving of tenants. It also distributes
the burden of the work that accompanies the tenant's moving into
the house. In cities where it is customary to have nearly all of
PROBLEMS OF RENTING 39
the leases expire at a certain time of the year, it is suggested that
it would be well worth while to investigate the advantages of
staggering the leasing dates and see that organized effort is brought
to bear on distributing or staggering the leasing dates. In in-
stances where effective work in staggering leasing dates has been
done, it is recognized that the individual can do but little alone,
and that organized effort is essential.
Contracts
Many landlords insist on having a formal lease agreement signed
by the tenant, while others feel that such an agreement is a waste
of time and effort. This is a question for the individual landlord
to settle for himself, as the enforcing of broken leases or the
following up of tenants who have left often costs more than the
amount of the settlement that might be made. In cases of long-
term residence by responsible tenants, however, written contracts
should be so made that they can be readily lived up to by both
landlords and tenants. Any unreasonable provisions in the lease
may be taken advantage of by the tenant as a means of voiding
the contract.
III. General Considerations
Conditions governing rentals vary in different parts of the coun-
try, in different cities and even within the same community. These
variations are governed primarily by the type of population, type
and condition of structure, business or industrial activity and by
the growth or obsolescence of local areas.
Types of Renters
In every community there must always remain a considerable
number of families who rent homes because it is not timely for
them to purchase. In this group are :
1. The newly married who have not yet procured sufficient financial foot-
ing to assume the responsibility of purchase.
2. The group seeking to ascertain by experience the desirability of a given
section before committing themselves to permanent residence.
3. Those, otherwise responsible, whose occupations are of an itinerant
nature.
4. The more poorly paid of the population who lack the ability to purchase.
The first two classifications may be considered by owners as fur-
nishing distinctly desirable tenants. If they are occupying houses
40 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
for sale, they constitute in a majority of cases, prospective pur-
chasers. It is reasonable to assume that the members of the first
group, upon becoming more stabilized financially, will have de-
veloped a community interest and acquaintanceship which may tie
them to the vicinity of their temporary residence, if not to the
actual premises occupied. This condition applies even more defi-
nitely to the second group.
Types of Rental Dwellings
One- family houses are usually not built or purchased for occu-
pancy on a rental basis but are intended to be sold as rapidly as
possible. Territorially these structures predominate in the smaller
cities and in those suburban areas adjacent to larger commercial
or industrial centers.
Except in times approximately approaching boom conditions, it
is logical to assume that the entire production of any one builder
or development may not be immediately sold. Within this class
will be found the greater proportion of the single houses avail-
able for rental.
When builders and owners of small houses are considering the
first two types of renters mentioned above, since a certain propor-
tion of the original cost of the structure will have been amortized,
rentals at figures merely approximating maintenance may be con-
sidered logical, particularly when it is considered that each tenant
may be a prospective purchaser. If budgetary requirement for
savings is added to the rental allowance, a practical system for pur-
chase may well be arranged, in which case the problem of the
leased premises becomes identical to that of home ownership, as
treated in another part of this report, and the cautions brought to
the attention of the prospective owner can be utilized by the family
which seeks to occupy the premises as tenant.
Those engaged in itinerant occupations, comprising group three,
can be considered only in the light of temporary occupancy. Even
though otherwise responsible, many persons are, by nature of their
employment, required to move at irregular intervals from one sec-
tion of a community to another and in some instances to distant
points. Within this group may be found those who are capable of
paying any rental throughout the rental scale, and while in the
a reasonably important group as tenants, their basic in-
PROBLEMS OF RENTING
41
stability of location precludes their consideration as prospective
purchasers.
Within group four is found that portion of the community un-
able to pay rental demanded for modern or new houses but still
anxious to maintain independent homes in single- family houses.
The normal tendency of these persons is toward cheaper rentals in
obsolete or obsolescent districts, or in inexpensive developments
located convenient to the place of employment. It is the exception
rather than the rule to find prospective purchasers within this
classification.
The two- family (sometimes called duplex) type of dwelling
reaches its greatest popularity in the smaller cities and in locations
removed from the immediate centers of large cities. In the smaller
communities, many local investors favor this type of structure,
considering that rentals will compensate for the investment and
provide an adequate return. The more general use of such a struc-
ture, however, is the purchase by particularly thrifty individuals,
who have in mind the idea of providing comfortable and satisfac-
tory living accommodations, the cost of which is minimized by
renting part of the premises.
The problem of providing adequate housing facilities for the
employees of large industrial corporations that are located outside
the centers of population is one that concerns the management of
industrial plants rather than individuals. In older sections, many
such projects have been unattractive ; they were designed only for
the purpose of providing domiciles for employees convenient to
their work, and at a minimum of rent. In recent years, however,
an increasing number of organizations, possessed of more than
average foresight, have considered that the provision of attractive
and convenient residences, at nominal cost, has a particularly bene-
ficial effect on employment conditions, and tends to stabilize em-
ployment and to improve the morale of employees.
Multiple dwellings range all the way from the three- family
structure of some of the smaller cities to the modern apartment
house of 15 stories or more, peculiar to the central areas of the
larger cities. The apartment house is a commercial enterprise
and, tinder normal conditions, the supply has followed the demand.
However, there have occurred fluctuations in rentals from the
unreasonably high levels of the immediate postwar period to the
present sharp reductions incident to the overproduction during
42 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
the last few years of buildings of this type. Provision of apart-
ment house space is a prime necessity in the great cities, and con-
tinued construction of such buildings will undoubtedly proceed
through the efforts of individual investofs for whom adequate
supply of capital is normally available. Even under existing con-
ditions, there is a reasonable demand for modern apartments em-
bodying the most up-to-date features of design and construction
which, with proper planning, can be provided even in buildings
designed for a nominal rental expectancy.
It should be borne in mind that apartment buildings will be
in competition with buildings of the same type more recently
erected and the owner should be constantly alert to the necessity for
practicable modernization of his building as well as the preserva-
tion of the desirable qualities of the neighborhood in which it is
located. Thus, while it may become necessary to adjust rentals
to levels within the means of families not requiring the very
highest standards of convenience and modernness, the property
will still be attractive to a desirable clientele. By this procedure,
if proper allowance for depreciation has been made during the
most productive years of the structure, the building can be main-
tained on a profitable basis and will serve to furnish superior
living accommodations to those unable to pay the highest scale
of rents.
The Apartment House in Relation to a Community
The Planning Board of New Rochelle, N. Y., recently con-
ducted a door-to-door survey of apartment houses in that city with
a view to determining, among other things, the following:
Do apartments pay the city?
Do apartments pay the tenant?
Do apartments pay the owner?
The field studied consisted of modern apartment houses and
typical single-family houses among apartment houses, occupied
by about the same class of people. The report states:
"From these statistics it would appear that the apartment house and the
dwelling each has its place. Where there is a family of children of pre-
school age or school age, the dwelling offers more advantages in proportion
to the rent than does the apartment. However, for families where there are
no young children, or possibly at most one child, and for single adults, the
apartment offers distinct advantages. With the constant decrease in the
PROBLEMS OF RENTING 43
size of the family, the number of families or individuals who would find it
preferable to live in an apartment is constantly increasing. Therefore, the
market for apartment houses is increasing.
"From the standpoint of the building owner, the rapidly increasing price
of land per square foot in New Rochelle and the number of square feet that
must be preserved around houses for health and safety is making it more
and more difficult each year to build new one-family houses to rent. On the
other hand, even the garden type of apartment with relatively large open
spaces around it is a more economic proposition to the owner and to the
tenant than is the one- or two-family house.
"From the city's standpoint, the apartment house pays in taxes per square
foot of land about three times as much as the dwelling. However, the
apartment brings about half as much in taxes per family as does the
dwelling. . . .
"As to fires and contagious disease, the records seem to show no advan-
tage one way or the other, although the increasing tendency to build fire-
proof apartments is tipping the balance in favor of the latter.
"Furthermore, the investigation shows that it is entirely practicable and
economic to insist that no new apartment house should cover over 40 per
cent of the lot and under many conditions it would be practicable to limit
them to 30, 20 and even 15 per cent of the lot. The survey also shows that
it is no hardship to limit apartments to four stories in height unless they
are restricted to a very small percentage of the lot area."
Rent Surveys
The Philadelphia Housing Association which has been collect-
ing rent data since 1914, summarizes the value of a rent survey
as follows:
"A rent survey may or may not have practical value. It may confirm a
belief that rents are either going up or down, or are subject only to very
slight changes. It may be contributory evidence of an increase or decrease
in the purchasing power of the dollar. It may indicate the absorption of
dwellings, or decreased difficulty in securing tenants. But beyond these
rather general interpretations, few individuals seem to appreciate the sig-
nificance of rent data.
"Rent data are more than cold statistical statements. If the material is
comprehensive, it should enable the analyst to determine tenant mobility
and the months of the year when tenants feel the urge to move most
strongly ; it should show the compulsion on owners or tenants to make im-
provements or repairs, and correlate the changes in tenantry with major
improvements ; and it should reveal the degree of law observance by re-
cording the prevalence of violations of the housing laws.
"Other points which may be helpful in solving management problems may
be brought out in a rent survey, as for example, whether rent changes are
greater in the higher- or lower-rental groups; whether lowered rents in-
fluence tenant mobility ; and whether there are appreciable differences in
44 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
rental rates between white and Negro tenants. Do rents fluctuate equally in
all parts of the city, or are some areas, which are substandard in character
and unstable in occupancy, experiencing rent changes without uniformity or
regularity? Furthermore, the by-products of such rent surveys may furnish
definite information as to the number of rented dwellings with inadequate
equipment and the percentage of tenants who, for economic reasons, live in
low-rental houses, or are behind in their rent payments. Numerous other
pertinent conclusions may be drawn from a comprehensive rent survey, con-
clusions which have practical value to those who own or contemplate owning
and managing rental properties, as well as those who propose model housing
projects for small wage-earning groups."
PART II. RELATIONSHIP OF INCOME AND
THE HOME
CHAPTER II
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Introductory
The question of family income is of cardinal importance in the
consideration of any housing program. It is of particular moment
in the discussion of home ownership, since it is out of the resources
saved from its current income that the average family finances a
home purchase.
There is general agreement that home ownership, from the point
of view of financing, is little more than a matter of choice for fami-
lies in the higher-income groups and that, conversely, it is virtually
out of the question for city families of substandard and very un-
certain income. There is not, however, general agreement as to
the income level at which home ownership is a practicable possi-
bility, taking into account such special factors as size of com-
munity, occupation, type of mortgage and the like.
The Committee on the Relationship of Income and the Home
was organized in the hope that it might aid in the elucidation of
these and similar questions. The committee's task has, through-
out, been fraught with two major difficulties — difficulties which
have at one and the same time greatly restricted the scope of its
investigations and determined the course of such investigations as
it has conducted. In the first place, there have been very few
previous studies directly bearing on the committee's field of in-
quiry. In the second place, such data as are available are only
partially comparable on account of such complicating factors as
occupational and regional standards of living, local peculiarities in
building styles and financing methods, and differences between
urban and rural housing conditions.1
1 The original outline of the scope of the committee's study is as follows :
"The range and percentage of income devoted to rent and to home acquisition,
to heating, lighting, and service for the home, to the acquisition and upkeep
of furnishings and equipment will be considered for different parts of the
country and for urban and suburban districts, and by population and racial
45
46 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
As a consequence of these difficulties, the committee decided to
supplement its activities in assembling and collating existing in-
formation by at least one first-hand field study. Since, moreover,
within the marginal-income groups, home ownership is less com-
mon in large metropolitan areas than in rural and semi-rural com-
munities, it was decided to select a metropolitan area for such a
fact-finding study.2
The City of Buffalo was finally decided upon as the subject of
this initial sample study, partly because of certain practical con-
siderations relating to the availability of a staff and research facili-
ties, partly because as a city of some 570,000 population, situated at
the eastern end of the Great Lakes basin, it appeared reasonably
likely to be typical of northern industrialized cities.
The committee has continuously been aware of the limitations
and risks involved in this procedure. Local idiosyncrasies might
reduce measurably the degree to which the Buffalo district could
be taken as representative of northern metropolitan areas and the
relatively small number of cases which could be covered within the
limit of time and funds available might introduce a further ele-
ment of uncertainty in the interpretation of the data yielded by
the study.
On the other hand, no extensive field investigation is altogether
free from the difficulties involved in a sampling study, unless it is
conducted on a scale so wide as to be beyond the reach of all but
governmental organizations, or of the most amply financed private
ones, and such extensive and inclusive investigations are not likely
to be undertaken until the way for them has been pointed by less
ambitious enterprises. Moreover, the committee feels that, pend-
groups, and these factors will be examined also with reference to other fac-
tors in the family budget needs and standards. Case studies as well as sta-
tistical studies will be assembled or made, and the findings will be evaluated
in an attempt to devise principles for home budgeting and to state as exactly
as possible the individual factors which must be taken into consideration in
applying these principles in advising individual families. The committee will
also study examples of the better types of housing now available for un-
skilled and semi-skilled workers in various parts of the country, in order to
ascertain the methods of making these more widely available. The salvaging
and refinishing of old furnishings, economical tyes of home gardens, in-
come-producing activities in the home and other devices for reducing costs
or for improving conditions at little or no cost will be examined."
2 A special tabulation of the 1930 census data on home ownership, recently
made by the Division of Building and Housing of the United States Depart-
ment of Commerce, brings out very clearly the disparity between metropoli-
tan, urban and rural areas in respect to home ownership. Reference to this
tabulation is made in Chapter VII, p. 135.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME 47
ing such a large-scale inquiry, an approximately accurate picture
of the income-and-home-owning situation, at least in certain broad
categories of communities, might be obtained by means of sample
studies in a number of communities. Methods of investigation and
tabulation would be progressively improved, and the Buffalo study
might well serve both as the initial component in, and a stimulus
to, such a series. Finally the committee, after consideration of the
data yielded, is of the opinion that the Buffalo sampling study has
served to call attention to certain elements in the home purchasing
situation in American metropolitan areas that are pertinent to the
subject of the relationship of income and the home, and to the
questions of financing methods and of family economy that are
inextricably bound up with it.
I. Factual Summary and Commentary
As indicated above, the research activities of the Committee on
the Relation of Income and the Home fall into two general cate-
gories : First, a review of such published data as are available, and,
second, a sample fact-finding study in the Buffalo area.
The first of these two types of investigation is to be found in
Chapter III. The studies comprising these data consist of a sur-
vey of existing cost of living and budget studies,3 and a summary
of some of the more noteworthy experiments that have been made
in the United States for making good housing available to low-in-
come families.4
In Chapter V are presented the results of the Buffalo sample
study. The principal feature in this study is the statistical analysis
of some 800 Buffalo home buying families with incomes of $3,000
per year or less.5 This study is followed in Chapter VI by a brief
analysis of detailed budget studies of ten of these Buffalo home
buying families.6
Other projects instituted in conjunction with the work of the
committee, include a statement of principles governing the re-
3 This survey was prepared by Dr. Faith M. Williams, a member of the
committee, and Dr. B. Eleanor Johnson of the Research Staff of the Presi-
dent's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership.
4 This study was conducted by Miss Blanche Halbert, a member of the
committee.
5 This study was conducted under the direction of Prof. M. A. Brumbaugh
of the University of Buffalo, Vice Chairman and Secretary of the committee.
6 This study was prepared by Dr. Niles Carpenter, Chairman of the com-
mittee, with the assistance of Mr. Thomas Neill, University of Buffalo.
48 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
conditioning and remodeling of the home.7 This will be found in
the appendix on page 143.
Need for Further Research
It is obvious that the work of the committee has been handi-
capped at every turn by the scarcity of authoritative data on the
subjects with which it has had to deal. Particularly serious is
the dearth of budget and cost of living studies containing detailed
figures dealing with financing of housing and home ownership.
While there are cost of living studies in large numbers, few of
them have been made with sufficient particularity and care to per-
mit any but the most general conclusions concerning the way in
which the American family makes financial provision for the rental,
purchase and payment of a home, for its upkeep and its fur-
nishings, maintenance, and modernization. Moreover, such data
as are available cover such a wide range of geographical and eco-
nomic groupings, housing types, social classes and sizes of com-
munities, as to render exceedingly difficult any comparative studies.
Finally, there is virtually no material at hand concerning specific
nationality and racial groups, a fact that is of great significance
when it is remembered that Negro and immigrant groups often
experience great difficulty in securing adequate housing at reason-
able cost.
Another topic, concerning which there appears to be virtually
no available information, is the status of home purchasing as an
investment as compared with other types of savings and invest-
ments.8
Expenses above Basic Costs
The data suggest that many families are unable to purchase
homes partly because of factors extraneous to the basic economic
cost of the house itself. This observation applies particularly to
the cost of financing, partly by reason of the relatively unorgan-
ized condition of the market for real estate loans, and partly be-
cause of certain customs and practices which frequently accom-
pany small home financing. Many home buyers find themselves
7 Prepared by Miss Emily W. Dinwiddie, a member of the committee.
8 There is available one general statement comparing "real estate" as an
investment with savings accounts, building and loan shares, life insurance,
stocks and bonds and investment-trust shares. It is contained in Keister,
Alfred S., Our Financial System, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1930.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME 49
forced to pay premiums for mortgage placements and renewals,
mortgage discounts and similar extra charges which considerably
increase their costs over and above the basic economic costs for
labor, material, interest, risk and other overhead. So disorganized is
the home financing situation, in Buffalo at least, that a substantial
number of the home buyers interviewed appeared to have only the
cloudiest conception of the status of their indebtedness in respect
to interest charges and amortization. When the fact is borne in
mind that this situation was discovered within a group consisting
exclusively of native born white American families, one seems to
be justified in inferring that it obtains probably in a more aggra-
vated form among immigrant and Negro families.
Inequality in Bargaining Strength
Closely related to the foregoing is the fact, elicited during many
of the personal interviews upon which the Buffalo home owner-
ship study was based, that the home buyer often finds himself
at a serious disadvantage in dealing with the seller or builder. He
is usually inexperienced in such matters and ignorant of real estate
and housing conditions as a whole in his community, whereas the
other party to the transaction ordinarily is highly expert in this
field and is familiar with building and housing conditions and
with real estate values. Since the purchase of a home often con-
stitutes the most momentous single financial transaction in which
the average American family engages, the relatively weak bargain-
ing position of the home buyer assumes great significance.
New versus Used and Reconditioned Homes
The Buffalo home ownership study shows that 71 per cent of
the families who were paying for their homes in 1930 had pur-
chased houses which had been built since 1921 and that in only
3 per cent of the cases had the date of building of these houses
gone back as far as 1905. While it is true that there is a rapid
depreciation through obsolescence, neighborhood change, and phys-
ical deterioration in present-day urban houses, it would seem un-
likely that this depreciation could have proceeded so rapidly as to
render advisable the passing over of so large a number of older
houses as has been the case with this group of Buffalo home
buyers.
The relative insignificance of the used or reconditioned house
50 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
in home purchasing may be partly assignable to the inexpertness
of the American householder in home buying. It is the house that
is vividly called to his attention through the efforts of the builder
and large-scale real estate promoter which he is more likely to buy.
The used or reconditioned house, on the other hand, is often over-
looked and is allowed to drift into dilapidation and deterioration,
via the rental route. If this conclusion is correct, it would seem
likely that a very great amount of waste is involved in the existing
home purchasing situation.
The preceding generalizations probably do not apply so far
in the rural as in the urban community. Although the committee
does not have in its possession any factual data supporting such
an assumption, the relatively small volume of housing construction
in many rural communities does support it.
Spending Patterns in Home Buying Families
Another generalization, which is suggested but not explicitly
indicated by the data subsumed in Chapter V, is that many of
those families that are engaged in the purchase of houses have
a highly developed regard for such satisfactions as are associated
with home ownership. Certain of the families included in the
Buffalo case study (Chapter VI) have made the most strenuous
effort to acquire and keep their homes. The 789 families enu-
merated in the Buffalo home ownership study had materially in-
creased expenditures for only two items in their family budgets,
namely, household furnishings and household equipment. These,
be it noted, are objectives of expenditures closely related to the
home itself. On the other hand, expenditures for clothing, mov-
ing pictures and theaters, books, magazines, vacations, and house-
hold help have in many cases been curtailed, while those for auto-
mobiles, life insurance, and education have been relatively unaf-
fected. The greater number of these items of expenditure where
curtailment is evident can be classified as those ministering to the
satisfaction of individualistic wants without relation to the indi-
vidual's domiciliary and familial status. The data, therefore, sug-
gest that a definite pattern of family expenditures is established
in at least some home purchasing families; namely, that its
several members hold within bounds the satisfaction of their
extra-domiciliary and individual needs and thereby make pos-
sible the pooling of the family's resources for the attainment
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME
51
of those more collective objectives such as are involved in the
acquisition, maintenance and equipment of the home. If this
generalization is applicable to home buying families in general,
its significance is considerable, for it means that all those in-
fluences making for the enhancement of family values as over
against the seeking after goods and services catering to individual-
istic wants, may be expected to make for the expansion of home
ownership.
Special Advantages Enjoyed by Some Home Buying
Families
Another deduction suggested by the research activities of this
committee is to a certain degree involved in the preceding para-
graph. It is that the families who embark upon the enterprise of
home ownership and succeed in it may not be, in all regards, typical
of their respective economic and social strata. As has already been
shown, there is at least a possibility that many among the group of
home purchasing families have a relatively highly developed sense
of family loyalty. Again, almost every one of the ten households
studied in the Buffalo case study was able to keep its charges for
maintenance and repair at very low figures, because of the fact
that the chief breadwinner — by reasons either of special skill,
extra leisure, or ability to purchase materials at low prices — was
able to do much of the work upon his house himself. More than
this, certain of the ten families in this case study had access to
sources of income not generally available to members of the pop-
ulation at large, or enjoyed unusually secure tenure of employ-
ment. Yet again, the families included in the Buffalo home
ownership study were found to contain a disproportionately large
number of skilled workmen, or, in other words, of men who could
be expected to do a considerable amount of work upon their own
homes.
No one of these facts taken by itself is of particular significance.
Taken altogether, however, they suggest a query: How many
home purchasing families are the beneficiaries of special advan-
tages in the way of income, skill, family solidarity and the like
which are not equally diffused throughout the population ? In other
words, is it not likely that within any given income group those
families purchasing homes will be found to be not broadly rep-
resentative of that group as a whole, but rather of those members
52 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
of that group enjoying some special advantage? As the lower-
income ranges are approached, such queries as these taken on added
significance.
The Problems of the Low-Income Family
The interrogations just propounded lead to another, which
represents the nub of the entire problem put before the Com-
mittee on the Relationship of Income and the Home. It may
be stated as follows : How many families are unable, under exist-
ing conditions of home financing and income distribution, to pur-
chase homes at all, and what policy is to be adopted in respect to
those who cannot?
The Buffalo home ownership study has shown that relatively
few families receiving less than $1,250 a year were able to buy
homes in an urban industrial community such as Buffalo. A
similar situation is revealed by the summary of existing budget
data prepared in cooperation with the Committee on Household
Management 9 and by the Committee's study of low-cost housing
projects. Such a statement as this cannot be applied to all sections
of the country and to all classes of communities. Obviously, hous-
ing costs are not so great in areas where cellars do not have to be
dug or furnaces installed as in those in which these features are re-
quired. In small towns and rural communities in which land values
are low and wage rates beneath those of city levels, homes can prob-
ably be purchased for smaller amounts than could comparable
housing accommodations in large towns and cities. Neverthe-
less, it is obvious that the existing distribution of incomes through-
out the American population renders impossible, under present
conditions, the purchase of homes for a very large number of
American families. More than this, the data on family budgeting
mentioned above, together with the material brought together in
the two Buffalo studies, suggest that many families are attempt-
ing to purchase homes at the expense of other important elements
in their family economy. As pointed out earlier in this chapter,
it may be possible to curtail expenditures for certain individual-
istic satisfactions without encountering any serious results, save
the intangible ones implied in the limitation of personality de-
9 See "Household Management and Kitchens," Publications of the Presi-
dent's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washington,
1932, Vol. IX, Pt. I.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME
53
velopment. Nevertheless, the virtual expunging from the budget
of savings and investments other than those involved in the pur-
chase of the home, and the drastic reduction in such items as edu-
cation and recreation as are indicated in some of the detailed
budgets presented in the Buffalo case study, appear to represent
an unbalanced, if not an unwise, distribution of expenditures.
II. Recommendations
In presenting its recommendations, the Committee on the Re-
lationship of Income and the Home is happy to report that it has
reached substantial unanimity in virtually all of the topics dis-
cussed by it. There have been certain differences of opinion in
connection with various proposed measures for meeting the needs
of low-income families. This diversity of opinion is, however, of
no great moment, since it serves merely to bring out the fact that
a greater body of authoritative information on this topic is neces-
sary before sound social and economic planning can take place.
In fact the necessity for engaging further research constitutes the
first item in the list of the committee's recommendations.
1. Research Needs
The serious lack of factual material concerning the extent to
which home ownership is available to members of various income
groups, the way in which the family economy is affected by home
purchasing, and the measures which might be devised for making
home ownership more widely available to families of moderate
means, should be remedied as quickly as possible. There is an
especially acute need for the following types of research:
(a) Home Ownership Surveys. These studies should be made more
inclusive than was the Buffalo study, in that various ethnic and neighborhood
types should be included. They should also be supplemented for compara-
tive purposes by studies of families who are living in rented quarters, fami-
lies who have tried to purchase homes and failed, and families who have
completed their home purchases.
(b) Cost of Living and Budget Studies Giving Particular Atten-
tion to Expenditures for Housing. Distinction should be made between
owning and renting families. Expenditures should be itemized so as to show
outlays for rent or for home financing, including taxation, insurance, interest
payments and amortization. Expenditures for home maintenance, house
furnishing and house equipment should be itemized as well as those for re-
modeling, reconditioning and modernizing.
(c) Detailed Case Studies of Families Bearing on Their Experi-
54 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
ences in Securing Housing Facilities. These studies should include
families who have failed in buying homes as well as those who have succeeded.
They should also take into account families who have never attempted to
emerge from the renting class and who do not intend to do so. In these
studies an especial effort should be made to take cognizance of motives,
attitudes and those other aspects of family economy that are not readily
reducible to statistical formulation.
(d) Significant Attempts to Make Home Ownership Possible for
Families with Low or Uncertain Incomes. There is an especial need
for objective and thorough investigations of cooperative apartments, limited
dividend and philanthropic housing schemes, large-scale housing develop-
ments, tax-exemption plans and various forms of direct and indirect subsidi-
zation of housing in this and in other countries. Attention should not be con-
centrated upon successful ventures alone.
Research Auspices. Research enterprises such as are included
in these recommendations could probably best be carried on by
governmental agencies, research organizations, and university de-
partments of economics, sociology and business research. In cer-
tain cases, it might be desirable to secure financial support and
cooperation from chambers of commerce, real estate boards, city
planning and housing groups, councils of social agencies and sim-
ilar community organizations.
2. Financing Costs
It is obvious that anything which could be done to reduce the
cost of home building and home purchasing would automatically
serve to make home ownership more available to persons of low
and moderate incomes. It is equally obvious that the formula-
tion of definite recommendations in this direction are, for the most
part, outside of terms of reference of this committee. Neverthe-
less, on the basis of certain facts which have been developed in
the course of its investigations, the committee ventures to set forth
a limited number of recommendations looking toward the reduc-
tion of the cost of home financing.
(a) Curtailment of Short-Term and Unamortized Mortgages.
The short-term mortgage and the consequent possibility of frequent
demands for premiums and bonuses for mortgage renewal have been seen to
constitute a considerable drain upon the resources of the home buyer and
also to inject an element of insecurity into his entire financial plan. Both
difficulties could be reduced if the practice of writing short-term mortgages
were replaced by one in which long-term mortgages were written with ade-
quate amortization provisions by means of which the interests of the lender
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME 55
might be safeguarded at the same time that the financial security of the
home buyer was being protected.
(b) Broadening the Base of Home Financing. Another difficulty
has been seen to arise from the fact that established financial institutions do
not engage more widely in the financing of home purchases, leaving a large
part of the field to private individuals and to relatively unregulated and ir-
responsible agencies. This observation applies particularly to the second
mortgage. The situation could be largely remedied by legislative and other
changes, making possible the wider participation of banks, insurance com-
panies, trust companies and building and loan associations, under prpper
safeguards.
(c) Rediscounting of Mortgage Paper. The possibility might be
considered of making mortgage paper available for rediscount purposes.10
3. An Organized Housing Market
The relatively unorganized condition of the real estate market
places both home buyers and home sellers at a disadvantage. The
probabilities are, however, that the home buyer is at the more
serious disadvantage because the bulk of home selling is in the
hands of professional real estate dealers. Anything which may
be done by multiple listing or otherwise to reduce the waste and
uncertainty involved in unorganized and unregulated marketing
of houses would operate to bring a larger number of individuals
into the home owning group.
4. Education
In many cases, home owning appears to be unnecessarily diffi-
cult and hazardous by reason of the fact that the family involved
does not possess adequate information concerning the best way to
go about the purchase of a home. Consequently, a number of
educational efforts, designed to make more widely available stand-
ard and approved practices in home buying, would enable more
families to embark upon and succeed in the enterprise of home
purchasing.
(a) Purchase of Older Houses. Many families of moderate means
10 A resolution was adopted by the Conference, endorsing the suggestion of
President Hoover for the establishment of a system of home loan banks. The
President's statement appears in "Home Finance and Taxation" and the
resolution appears in "Housing Objectives and Programs," Publica-
tions of the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ozvnership,
Washington, 1932, Vols. II and XI, respectively. This suggestion culminated
in the enactment and approval on July 22, 1932, of the Federal Home Loan
Bank Act, providing for the discounting by mortgagees of first mortgage
paper. (Public Act No. 304, Seventy-second Congress.)
56 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
can find their housing needs adequately met through the purchase of older
houses, particularly in neighborhoods in which character is well established.
In some cases a certain amount of reconditioning and modernizing might be
called for, and in this connection attention is called to the statement of prin-
ciples governing remodeling and reconditioning attached to this report. Since
the bulk of advertising and sales effort in the real estate field is now devoted
to the marketing of new houses and subdivision property, it would seem that
special educational efforts are necessary to call the attention of the prospec-
tive home buyer to the possibilities of securing adequate housing through
the acquisition of older houses.
(b) Sources of Information. The prospective home buyer should
also be put in possession of information concerning the points to be ob-
served in going about the purchase of a home and of the pitfalls to be avoided.
This information should cover the rights and obligations of home buyers, the
conditions under which mortgages are written, liability for special assess-
ments, and probable cost of maintenance and upkeep. The pamphlet, How
to Own Your Home, issued by the United States Department of Commerce,
and The Better Homes Manual, issued by Better Homes in America, are
examples of such educational services.
(c) Overbuying. There is an especial need to insure that families
will not purchase homes beyond their means. In other words, the prospec-
tive house buyer needs to be urged to study the financial outlays involved in
home purchase in connection with his entire financial plan and to enter into
no commitments which involve undue risk, not only to the security of his
purchase, but also to the financial stability of his family.
(d) Family Attitudes. It has been seen that the pattern of expendi-
tures and the scale of values within the family goes far to determine whether
or not its individual members will cooperate so as to make home purchases
possible. Accordingly, anything that may be done to enhance the attitudes of
family solidarity and loyalty will indirectly promote home ownership. Par-
ticularly valuable in this connection would be emphasis upon the fact that
many purely individualistic needs and wants can best be fulfilled in the at-
mosphere of stability and security, which surrounds the acquisition and own-
ership of a home. On the other hand, frank recognition should be made of
the fact that much of the effort in contemporary marketing and advertising is
directed toward the stimulation of wants, the satisfaction of which implies
the withdrawal of spending power which might otherwise be devoted to the
acquisition and furnishing of the home.
(e) Housing for Low-Income Groups. The varied studies of this
committee have demonstrated that there are within the American popula-
tion large numbers of families who cannot now, under any circumstances,
afford to purchase homes or who are attempting to buy homes under bud-
getary plans of the sort that generally involve an unwise curtailment of
various items in their family budgets. The committee has no full-rounded
program to present for the amelioration of the housing needs of such
families. There is, however, general agreement on the part of the mem-
bers of the committee that nonprofit and limited dividend enterprises may
RECOMMENDATIONS ON INCOME AND THE HOME 57
have a wide field of usefulness in this connection, as may also housing enter-
prises instituted under proper safeguards by individual employers and
groups of employers. The committee feels also that, in congested metro-
politan areas, equitably financed and properly managed cooperative apart-
ments exhibiting sound planning and construction may help to provide many^
of the values inherent in home ownership to some families who could not af-
ford to purchase single or semi-detached houses.
There remain to be considered various devices for bringing governmental
aid into the field of home building and of housing generally. These pro-
posals include governmental loans, tax exemption and direct participation
of governmental agencies in the construction, renting and sale of housing
facilities. The committee does not have available a sufficient body of infor-
mation to warrant its making recommendations upon the controversial mat-
ters raised by this last group of proposals.
CHAPTER III
RECENT DATA ON INCOME DISTRIBUTION
AND FAMILY EXPENDITURES FOR
HOUSING IN THE UNITED STATES1
Comprehensive data on the distribution of income among the
families of the United States are not available. King2 and his as-
sociates of the Bureau of Economic Research have estimated the
average number of wage workers, salaried employees, and entre-
preneurs in certain industries for each year from 1909 to 1927
together with their average annual earnings. According to this
estimate, in 1927, 67 per cent of the 36,000,000 workers attached
to certain industries, primarily urban, were wage earners, 23 per
cent were salaried employees, and 10 per cent were entrepreneurs.
The average annual earnings for the wage and salaried workers
(90 per cent of the entire group) were estimated as not quite
$1,500. The range of the estimated average annual earnings for
wage earners, who comprise two-thirds of the group, was from
$1,202 in "unclassified" industries to $1,644 in "construction";
and that for salaried workers was from $1,771 in "government"
work to $2,470 in "manufacturing" industries. Douglas3 has es-
timated the average annual earnings for wage earners attached to
the manufacturing and transportation industries for the year 1926
at $1,302.
All these figures take account of loss of earnings through unem-
ployment in the year to which they apply. The possible earnings
of the wage earner are constantly subject to reduction as the result
of loss of working time due to unemployment, underemployment,
sickness, and other disability. The total loss from these causes
has been estimated as varying from 28.4 per cent of possible work-
ing time in 1921 to 9.5 per cent in 1923. 4 During the present de-
1 Prepared by Dr. Faith M. Williams, a member of the committee, and Dr.
B. Eleanor Johnson, Research Staff, President's Conference on Home Build-
ing and Home Ownership.
2 King, W. I., The National Income and Its Purchasing Power, New York,
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1930. See pp. 56, 60, 62,
146-47, 158-59.
3 Douglas, P. H., Real Wages in the United States, Boston, Houghton-
Mifflin Co., 1930, p. 463.
*Brissenden, P. F., "Earnings of Factory Workers, 1899-1927," Census
Monograph X. Washington (U. S. Department of Commerce), U. S. Gov-
ernment Printing Office, 1929, p. 341.
58
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HOUSING EXPENDITURES 59
pression, the index of average employment in manufacturing in-
dustries for the entire year of 1930 was 83.7 and, for the first 10
months of 1931, 72.0 as compared with 97.5 in 1929 and 100.0 in
1926. The index of average payroll totals was 80.3 in 1930 and
62.1 for the first 10 months of 1931, as compared with 100.4 in
1929 and 100.0 in 1926.5
Among families of wage and salaried workers, the regular earn-
ings of the father constitute a very large proportion of the total
income. No comprehensive data are available to show the pro-
portion in families of different types, but an analysis of recent
studies shows a variation of 68 per cent among Federal employees
in Chicago with average family incomes of $2,746 to 88 per cent
among street-car employees in San Francisco, with average family
incomes of $1,886.
The amount of the income that the family will spend for hous-
ing, home furnishing, equipment, and household operation is de-
pendent upon the importance of these to the family as compared
with the importance of other goods and services which are an
essential part of its standard of living. Recent studies of family
living in the United States have been analyzed to determine
how family expenditures actually have been apportioned. No
studies made previous to 1922 were included in the analysis, for it
was not until that year that the cost of living regained a fair de-
gree of stability, after the unsettled price conditions during and
directly following the war. No studies of rural family living nor
of Negro family living were included since the housing problems
of these two groups are being considered by separate committees.
The analysis of the studies available showed that, in general,
expenditures for housing have been less completely analyzed than
expenditures for food and clothing. Of the eleven studies which
furnished data on housing expenditures, only one presented sepa-
rately the expenditures for renters, for home owners with homes
owned free, and for home owners with homes mortgaged; and
only one showed separately average yearly incomes for renters and
home owners. The customary procedure has been to combine into
one figure, housing expenditures as well as other expenditures for
home owners and renters.
The studies analyzed show considerable variation in the items
B Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Trend of Employment," Monthly Labor
Review, U. S. Department of Labor, December, 1931, Vol. XXXIII, p. 1478.
60 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
included under "housing" and "household operation." In the
studies, "Standard of Living of Employees of the Ford Motor
Company in Detroit,"6 "Cost of Living of Federal Employees in
Five Cities," 7 and "Housing Problems of Salaried Workers Em-
ployed in Downtown Pittsburgh,"8 housing expenditures included
rentals paid and rental value of homes owned. In Peixotto's study
of 96 faculty members' families in Berkeley,9 and in the Heller
Committee study of street-car men's families,10 "housing" in-
cluded rent, payments on principal, interest on mortgages, assess-
ments, repairs, fire insurance, taxes, water rent, car fare to and
from work, garden and garage. In his study, "Income and Ex-
penditures of Minnesota Farm and City Families,"11 Zimmerman
combines expenditures for housing and operating under the gen-
eral heading "household purposes," but he presents data for own-
ers and renters separately in sufficient detail so that expenditures
for housing as well as for operating may be determined for both
renters and owners. For this analysis, taxes, insurance, repairs,
alterations, and rent have been presented as housing expenditures.
Interest on mortgages on owned homes is included with "interest
and taxes on investments," and cannot be computed from the pub-
lished data. In Nienburg's study of mine workers' families12 rent
included water for about half the renters and in the study, "In-
comes and Living Costs of a University Faculty,"13 rent included
water and repairs. In Houghteling's investigation of living con-
ditions among laborers in Chicago,14 no definite statement is made
regarding the services included with rent. Since 405 of the 467
0 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Department of
Labor, June, 1930, Vol. XXX, pp. 1209-52.
7 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, U. S. Department of
Labor, August, 1929, Vol. XXIX, pp. 315-35.
8 Pittsburgh Business Review, Vol. I, pp. 12-16. (Preliminary Report
and unpublished data.)
9 Peixotto, J., Getting and Spending at the Professional Standard of Liv-
ing, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1927.
10 Heller Committee for Research in Social Economics of the University
of California, Spending Ways of a Semi-Skilled Group (University of Cali-
fornia Publications in Economics), 1931, Vol. V, pp. 295-366.
11 Zimmerman, C. C, Bulletin 255, St. Paul, University of Minnesota Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, 1929, p. 19.
12 Nienburg, B., "Cost of Living and Retail Prices in the Anthracite
Region," Senate Document 105 (Sixty-eighth Congress), Pt. II.
18 Henderson, Y., and Davie, M. R., New Haven, Yale University Press,
1928.
14 Houghteling, L., The Income and Standard of Living of Unskilled
Laborers in Chicago, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1927.
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HOUSING EXPENDITURES 61
families studied heated their homes with stoves, and the other 62
with furnaces, one may conclude that heat was not provided with
rent. In the study made by the New York State Board of Hous-
ing15 which was restricted to home purchasing families living in
the cooperative apartment houses built by the Amalgamated Hous-
ing Corporation, the cost of housing included interest on mortgage,
payment on principal, taxes on land, and maintenance costs ; heat,
water, insurance, redecorating, wages, and salaries of the apart-
ment house employees.
Insufficient data were shown in the studies analyzed to deter-
mine expenditures for housing that would be comparable for all
the different groups studied, and comparison of the results as pre-
sented in the studies is necessarily unsatisfactory. It is possible,
however, to draw certain conclusions from the material available.
It is evident that the relationship between income and expenditure
for housing is not a fixed percentage but a variable which depends
upon housing facilities and housing costs in the community where
the family is located, the size of the family, the family's present
economic status and its probable economic future, whether the
family is renting or buying its own home and, if it is buying, the
basis on which the purchase is being made.
The communities represented in recent studies which show the
lowest percentage of family expenditures allotted to housing are
those studied by Nienburg in the anthracite region.
Among the anthracite mine workers, for whom in most cases
the housing facilities available were very unsatisfactory, the per-
centage declined from approximately 15 per cent to approximately
8 per cent.
"Families paying rent in cities of 50,000 and over paid (an average rental
of) $14.72 per month ; those in cities of 10,000 to 50,000 paid $14.39, whereas
families in cities of 2,500 to 10,000 paid $11.36 per month. . . . The pre-
vailing two-story frame detached house of 5 or 6 rooms, with running water
in the kitchen, and electricity, rents for $20 if favorably located and in good
repair, whereas a house of the same description rents for $10 if located on
the 'flats.' . . . Bathrooms are the exception rather than the rule in miners'
homes in the anthracite region. Even if a miner had money to rent a house
so equipped, he would have difficulty in finding one." 16
"Achinstein, A., "The Standard of Living of 400 Families in a Model
Housing Project— Amalgamated Housing Corporation," Report of the New
York State Board of Housing for 1930, 1931.
16 Nienburg, Op. cii., p. 595-6.
62 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The study of the economic situation of the families of Federal
employees receiving not over $2,500 was conducted in five dif-
ferent cities in the summer of 1928 by the United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics. In summarizing the expenditures of these
families no separate classification was made of owners and renters
and the rental value of owned homes was entered as a housing
expense. "Any payment on an owned home above the rental value
is considered a saving, and where the payment is below the rental
value the difference is considered a deficit." 17 When average
family expenses were computed by this method, it was found that
average housing expenses varied from 16 per cent of total expenses
in New Orleans to 22 per cent in Baltimore. Average size of
family was almost exactly the same in the two cities, but average
family expenses were higher in Baltimore than New Orleans by
$154. Fifty-nine per cent of the Baltimore families represented in
the study owned their own homes, and only 30 per cent of the New
Orleans families. No figures are given on the number of full
owners and part owners in either city.
The effect of increase in size of family upon expenditures for
housing at a given income level is not systematically presented in
any recent study. The material available seems to indicate, how-
ever, that an increase in size of family is apt to result in a decrease
in the percentage of family income spent for housing. When the
amounts spent for rent and the total family fund of 301 unskilled
wage earners studied by Houghteling in Chicago were classified
by size of family, it was found that the family fund tended to
increase with increase in size of family and the percentage spent
for rent tended to decrease. The percentage declined from 17.1
per cent for a family of three to 12.9 per cent for a family of
seven. The average amount spent for rent increased very little
until the family size reached nine persons. The lowest average for
any group was $275 for families of three ; the average of families
of eight was $287 ; and for families of nine or more, $327.
A study of the family economics of the Yale faculty, which was
made in 1928, analyzes the housing situation of married faculty
members of different rank not owning their homes. The median
annual rent paid by instructors and assistant professors with chil-
17 Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Cost of Living of Federal Employees in
Five Cities," Monthly Labor Review, August, 1929, Vol. XXIX, p. 322.
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HOUSING EXPENDITURES 63
dren was $690 and $900 respectively, in each case $30 a year more
than that paid by married but childless instructors and assistant
professors. The median percentage of total income spent for rent
was 21.5 per cent for childless married instructors, 23.5 per cent
for married instructors with children, 21.0 per cent for childless
married assistant professors, and 19.0 per cent for married as-
sistant professors with children. The median annual rent paid by
childless married associate professors was somewhat higher than
that paid by associate professors with children, and the median
paid by six childless full professors was 50 per cent greater than
the median for twelve full professors with children. The median
percentages of total income spent by childless married associate
professors and full professors were 20.0 and 21.5 per cent re-
spectively, and by associate and full professors with children 16
and 14 per cent respectively.
Preliminary figures from a study of the housing expenditures of
salaried workers in downtown Pittsburgh show a definite decline
in percentage of income allotted to rent with increases in income,
and a distinctly higher percentage going to rent than that found
at the same income levels among the wage earners studied by
Houghteling in Chicago. No figures are as yet available to show
size of family among these Pittsburgh salaried workers, but data
from other studies indicate that it is probable that their families
are in general smaller than those of the wage-earning group.
A report of the division of expenditures by 400 families in the
Amalgamated Housing Corporation shows the percentage of total
expenditures allotted to housing by families purchasing homes in
cooperative apartments built by the corporation under the 1926
New York State housing law. The economies which this law
affords have made possible the construction of apartments that are
well built, and that provide for adequate sunlight, ventilation, and
playspaces, at a cost that greatly facilitates home ownership for
families with incomes of $2,500 and less. Expenditures included
under "housing" among these families declined from 33.1 per cent
of the total expenditures of families spending from $1,000 to
$1,499 to 22.7 per cent for those with total expenditures of from
$2,000 to $2,499 and to 12.4 per cent of the total expenditures of
those spending $5,000 and more. These housing figures included
interest on a mortgage at the rate of 5 per cent, amortization
64 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
at the rate of 2 per cent, taxes on land (buildings were tax ex-
empt), and maintenance costs of the apartment house; heat, water,
insurance, redecorating, wages and salaries of the apartment house
employees. This group of families was able to secure a particu-
larly favorable type of financing because of the assistance rendered
them and the corporation by the Amalgamated Bank, the Amalga-
mated Clothing Workers Credit Union, and the Jewish daily,
Forward.
Variations in housing conditions in the cities from which figures
on family income and housing expenditures are available, added to
variations in the method of collecting and presenting data, make it
difficult to compare the findings of one report with another; but
when each study is considered as a unit, the percentage of the
annual expenditure apportioned to housing by renters is found to
decrease as the income increases. The trend seems to be the same
for home purchasing families, though the findings of two studies
can scarcely be considered sufficient basis for a conclusive
statement.
In all but one of the studies in which renters and owners were
shown separately, the findings indicate that the amount spent for
housing by owners exceeded that spent by renters ; but in instances
where it was possible to deduct payment on principal from cur-
rent expense, current housing expense of owners was found to be
less than that of renters. In only one study, that made by the Hel-
ler Committee among street-railway employees in San Francisco,
were data presented for homes owned clear and for those carrying
mortgages. This study shows families with average annual expen-
ditures of approximately $2,109 who owned their homes clear
spending an average of only $265 ($22 per month) for housing;
whereas those renting spent an average of $342 ($29 per month) ;
and those who were still making payments on their homes $440
($37 per month). The last cited figures included payment on
principal.
The analysis of these studies shows that in the wage and low-
salaried groups, families with incomes as low as $1,000 owned
their homes, but that home ownership had a tendency to increase
as the income increased. Renters predominated in the lower-in-
come groups. Among faculty families, home ownership was not
usual until the salary was $3,000 or over; but, as in the wage
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HOUSING EXPENDITURES 65
and low-salaried groups, home ownership had a tendency to
increase with increased income. Families with average yearly ex-
penditures of $2,500 or less owned homes ranging in price from
about $3,400 to $7,000. The average purchase price of the houses
owned by the street-railway employees studied in San Francisco
was about $3,400. The average cost of homes purchased by sala-
ried workers with incomes of from $1,000 to $2,600, employed in
downtown Pittsburgh, ranged from $4,150 to about $7,000. Among
Yale University faculty families, the relation of the total income
to the value of the residence tended to approximate the ratio of
1 to 2.
The studies analyzed show some variation in the items in-
cluded under "household operation." Expenditures for heat and
light, furniture and furnishings, cleaning supplies, laundry, tele-
phone and household service were included in this category in all
the studies analyzed. Ice, garbage removal, stationery, postage,
music other than music lessons, and "other" were included in cer-
tain studies.
Data are not available to show the variation in expenditures for
household operation for families at the same income level living
in houses of different types but in the same locality, and only
limited data are available to show these expenses in houses of dif-
ferent types in different localities. The study of the families housed
by the Amalgamated Housing Corporation is the only study in
which operating expenses apply to a specific type of residence, in
this instance, the cooperatively owned apartment house. The re-
sults of this study show little variation in the proportion allotted
to house operation by families at different income levels. The
range was from 6.7 per cent to 8.1 per cent of family expenditures
ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 and over. Of the families studied
by Zimmerman and by the Heller Committee, the majority lived in
detached one-family dwellings. The percentage expended for
household operation as shown in these two studies may possibly
be considered representative for families with equivalent incomes
living in this type of dwelling in cities of 15,000 to 50,000 popu-
lation in Minnesota, and in San Francisco. The average per-
centage of the annual expenditure allotted to operation by San
Francisco families with average expenditures of $2,109 was 10 per
cent ; that for Minnesota families with incomes of from $2,000 to
$3,000 was 12 per cent.
66 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
With the limited data available, it is impossible to arrive at any
definite conclusions as to whether home owners or renters ex-
pended a larger proportion of their income for household opera-
tion. The data presented by Zimmerman for these two groups
indicate that expenditures of home owners for these items are
larger than those for renters, particularly in the higher-income
groups.
Expenditures for "light and fuel" and "furniture and furnish-
ings" make up the major items under "household operation" in the
lower-income groups. Expenditures for "service" are an addi-
tional important item in the higher-income groups. Because of
the difficulty in apportioning to heating, cooking and lighting the
amount of fuel used, expenditures for "heat and light" are shown
together in most family living studies. Much variation is found
in these expenditures in the different studies, since the cost of fuel
varies with the section of the country, the type of house, and the
type of heating plant. The proportion of annual family expendi-
ture apportioned to "light and fuel" varied from an average of
2.6 per cent among university faculty families in Berkeley, Cali-
fornia, with average annual expenditures of $5,512 to 6.5 per cent
for Federal employees living in Boston whose average annual ex-
penditures were $2,498. San Francisco families with average
expenditures of $2,109 spent 3.6 per cent of it for light and fuel,
and New Orleans families with average expenditures of $2,280
spent 3.8 per cent. Expenditures for "furniture and furnishings"
ranged from an average of 2 to 5 per cent of annual expenditures.
In all instances where the average annual family expenditure did
not exceed $2,500, the expenditure for furniture and furnishings
was less than $100 a year. This included expenditures for new
furniture and furnishings as well as for replacement. The amount
spent for household service in the low-income groups was very
small. Street-car men's families in San Francisco whose average
annual expenditures were approximately $2,109 spent an average
of about $2 a year or .08 per cent of their total annual expendi-
tures for service, while University of California faculty families
spent an average of $232 or 4.2 per cent of average annual ex-
penditures of $5,512. The proportion of the income allotted to
household service increased with increase in income.
The amount of the annual income apportioned to savings and
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HOUSING EXPENDITURES 67
investment by wage and salaried workers is low. In some in-
stances the findings indicate that it approximated an average of
$100 a year among families with average annual incomes of about
$2,000, and $150 a year for families with incomes of from $2,500
to $3,000. In general, however, the studies show a deficit for the
entire group studied.
The findings of the various studies of urban family living indi-
cate that the proportion of the income allotted to "housing" de-
creases with increased income, and with increased size of family
at a given income level, and varies with the housing facilities and
costs in the community in which the family is located, the type of
tenure, and the basis on which payments are made if the home is
being purchased.
These conclusions must be regarded as tentative, as the studies
on which they are based are scattered, and their treatment of
housing expenditures varied in method and limited in extent.
Hermann Schwabe, who became director of the newly or-
ganized Berlin Statistical Bureau in 1865, published in 1868 The
Relation Between Rent and Income in Berlin™ His monograph
was the result of an investigation of the rents paid by city and
county employees with salaries less than 1,000 thalers, and by
all income taxpayers. In the course of his study he developed the
so-called Schwabe's law, — "The poorer one is, the greater the
proportion of his income going to shelter."
In 1927-28 the Statistisches Reichsamt collected household ac-
counts for one year from 896 wage earners' families, 546 clerks'
(Angestellten) families, 498 families of officials (Beamten).19
In his analysis of the recently gathered German statistics, Dr.
Liitge points out that within the wage earners' group, Schwabe's
law clearly holds, but that among clerical workers and the offi-
cials there are certain irregularities in the percentages of income
allotted to housing at different income levels. The difference in
the averages for the three occupational groups is very interesting.
Average annual earnings of the city wage earners amounted to
3,325 RM, and their average annual expenditures for rent
w Guradze, — , and Hermann Schwabe, Deutsches Statistisches Zentralblatt
March-April, 1930, Vol. XXII, pp. 39-40.
19 Germany, Statistisches Reichsamt, "Ergebnisse der Amtlichen Erhebun-
gen von Wirtschaftsrechnungen vom Jahre, 1927-28," Wirtschaft und Sta-
tistik, 1929-1930, Vol. IX, pp. 818-24, 902-7, 978-82; Vol. X, pp. 38-43, 78-81,
170-78, 266-71, 310-18.
68 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
amounted to 10 per cent of that sum. The clerical workers re-
ceived on the average 4,712 RM, and they allotted 11.5 per cent
of the total to rent, while the officials received on the average
5,349 RM, of which 12 per cent went to rent ; a progression exactly
the opposite of that stated by Schwabe's law. The differences in
the averages for the three occupational groups within given in-
come groups are even more striking. In the income group re-
ceiving 3,000-3,600 RM, wage earners apportioned on the average
10.2 per cent of the income to rent, clerical workers 11.9 per cent,
and officials 12.9 per cent. In the income group next higher (3,-
600 to 4,300 RM) the proportions are 9.4 per cent, 11.8 per cent,
and 12.1 per cent for wage earners, clerical workers, and officials,
respectively. Dr. Liitge suggests a law of "socially conditioned
housing expenditures," which is reminiscent of Dr. Peixotto's
statement about "house proud" academic families in the United
States who will sacrifice food and clothing standards in order to
have a "presentable" house.20
The comprehensive data in Dr. Lutge's article and in the articles
in Wirtschaft und Statistik emphasize the shortcomings of the ma-
terial on the relation of housing expenditures to income, available
for the United States.
20 Peixotto, op. cit., p. 127.
CHAPTER IV
LOW-COST HOUSING PROJECTS1
A few experiments in low-cost housing have been conducted
during the past 35 years, and philanthropic, semi-philanthropic
and low-cost private enterprises have been demonstrated. Since
there are few data on family income, an annual income of $1,500
or less has been selected for this discussion. This income group,
according to recent estimates, would represent a large portion of
families.2 Houses costing $3,000 or less, and rent at $35 per
month or under have been considered a low-cost housing basis for
this summary.
Cost Reduction
Efforts have been made to reduce the cost of adequate shelter
through the following methods : ( 1 ) Reduction of the cost of the
actual house; (2) certain forms of public aid; (3) the erection
of new houses which comply with such standards that, when old,
still will provide houses of acceptable standards for low-income
families.
Experimentation and many suggestions have been made for
reducing house costs. This reduction, however, has not yet low-
ered costs to such a level that the poorest families can buy new
homes. The most outstanding of these experiments and sugges-
tions, some of which have not been sufficiently tried out to deter-
mine their importance as factors in cost reduction, are as fol-
lows: Cheaper financing, mass production, standardization of
building materials, more factory-made parts, use of new building
materials and better use of old ones, elimination of waste in con-
struction processes — both in uses of materials and labor, less ex-
pensive equipment, reduction of the cost of advertising in selling
building materials and equipment, and the reduction of the specu-
lative element in the cost of land.
Although the use of various forms of public aid in order to pro-
vide homes for low-income families has been commonly used in
1 Prepared by Blanche Halbert, a member of the committee.
2 See "Slums, Large-Scale Housing- and Decentralization," Publications
of the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership
Washington, 1932, Vol. Ill, Ch. II.
69
70 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
many European countries, it has not appeared to be practicable
here in America. Tax-exemption legislation, however, has been
in use to some small extent in order to encourage more building
for low-income groups.
The erection of new houses to comply with such standards that
when old they still will provide comfortable and conveniently ar-
ranged homes for low-income families warrants careful considera-
tion. Used houses, if well built and designed so that maintenance
costs and remodeling costs may be reduced to a minimum, should
provide good homes.
Low-Cost Housing Enterprises
The purpose of this study is to describe, briefly, low-cost hous-
ing projects which already have been demonstrated.
Developments have been selected which represent costs suitable
for families of a $1,500 income. Those enterprises with houses
and apartments costing not more than $3,000 or renting for not
more than $35 a month have been included. Consideration as far
as possible has been given to housing that represents satisfactory
layout and such construction that a minimum of expenditure in
upkeep may be expected.
Many of the housing developments which are described have
been erected by limited dividend corporations working with funds
sufficiently large to permit cost reduction by providing low-cost
money and cash discount on materials. Other saving also has been
possible through large-scale operations. Many of the develop-
ments are tax exempt. In addition, information has been gath-
ered on a few typical cities which have examples of low-cost hous-
ing developments.
New York City. Some of the smaller apartments in the fol-
lowing housing developments are sufficiently low in cost or in
rental for the family with a $1,500 income.
The Amalgamated Housing Corporation and Amalgamated Dwell-
ings. This, perhaps, is one of the most outstanding developments under
the New York State housing law. This corporation completed one project
in 1927 and a second in 1929. The buildings house 511 families. The apart-
ments range in size from 2 to 7 rooms, and approximately 130 apartments, or
less than one-third of the apartments in these two projects rent for $35 or
less per month. The average rental in the two buildings is $11 per room per
month. Only 47 per cent of the ground is covered by the buildings ; the re-
mainder is used for playspace and lawns. Although the first project is a
Low-CosT HOUSING PROJECTS 71
five-story walk-up type, the apartments themselves are equipped with neces-
sary conveniences.
A third project by this company was completed in 1930 in the congested
area of the Lower East Side. This is a six-story brick building with 231
apartments — all with necessary conveniences for comfortable living. These
apartments have been purchased by tenants on the cooperative plan. The
Amalgamated Bank has assisted with necessary funds since many of the
tenants cannot afford to buy stock outright. The loans are to be amortized
over a period of 10 years.
Low rental is possible for these projects because of a savings in the land
purchase, savings in building operations, cash payments and savings in
financing and construction, savings in building on a large scale, and also be-
cause of the exemption from taxation which is provided under the limited
dividend housing law of New York enacted in 1926. The actual savings to
the corporation by this exemption has been estimated to approximate $2.11
per room per month.
Brooklyn Garden Apartments. The first of the Brooklyn Garden
Apartment developments completed in 1929, was a five-story, brick, walk-up
structure. It includes 164 apartments of 3, 4 and 5 rooms with bath. The
average rental per room is $10.50. A few of the smaller apartments rent for
$32.50 per month ; the larger and more desirable ones, however, rent as high
as $56.50.
In 1930, a second project providing for 111 families was completed. The
average rent per room per month is the same as in the first project.
The Farband Housing Corporation. The buildings erected by this
corporation in 1928 are six-story buildings with elevators. The project
provides for 128 families. The actual rentals are $9.63 per room per month,
which is below the maximum provided by the New York law. Over half
the apartments rent for less than $35 per month. This development is
sponsored by the Jewish National Workers Alliance of America. The
dwellings also are tax exempt.
Stanton Homes Corporation. Another smaller tax-exempt develop-
ment of 44 apartments which was completed in 1930 is that of the Stanton
Homes Corporation which provides for many conveniences including electric
refrigeration, elevator service and gas ranges. Nine of the 44 apartments
rent for $33 or less per month.
The Academy Housing Corporation and the Manhattan Housing
Corporation. Two new projects are now in process in New York by The
Academy Housing Corporation and the Manhattan Housing Corporation.
The Academy — a two million dollar development — is the largest single hous-
ing project undertaken under the law. Four hundred and seventy-four
families are provided for at rentals averaging $11 per room per month.
The Manhattan is a smaller project with an average rental per room
per month of $12.50.
All of the above mentioned projects are of multi-family dwell-
ing type and are tax exempt. These developments are located in
urban areas where costs are high and only a small number of the
72 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
apartments rent for $35 per month or less. Many of these are too
small to accommodate families of moderate size.
Other projects which are noteworthy are the projects of the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the Paul Laurence Dun-
bar Apartments sponsored by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., those
of the Lavanburg Foundation and the Phipps houses.
Cincinnati, Ohio. The Jacob B. Schmidlapp Enterprise.
Although this project was developed some time ago, it is a worth while
demonstration of low-cost housing. Up to the year 1918, 102 buildings
housing 402 families had been built. Thirty-four of these are single-family
dwellings of the row house type, 42 semi-detached with four families in each,
8 semi-detached with two families in each, and 18 multi-family dwellings.
The construction is all brick with concrete foundation. All houses have
cellars and are equipped with hot and cold water. This is a 5 per cent
limited dividend development. In 1931, the rent per room per month was
$5.36.
Questionnaires were sent to a few cities in order to determine,
where possible, the extent of low-cost housing developments.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Managing Director of the
Philadelphia Housing Association reports that the cheapest low-
cost houses in Philadelphia built in any considerable number dur-
ing the past 5 years were marketed at $3,990. Many remodeling
projects, however, are in process.
In Philadelphia is also the well-known Octavia Hill Association which is
over 35 years old. During the past few years, its activity has been along
the lines of improvement rather than that of erection of new dwellings.
During 1928 the Association purchased and completely renovated a row
of 11 houses in a residential district. These rented at $35 and $45 per
month. Some were sold to individual owners. In 1928 the Association's
projects accommodated 503 families. These dwellings included those both
owned and managed by the Association.
Nashville, Tennessee. Information reported by the Chamber
of Commerce indicates that approximately 1,600 houses have been
built during the past 5 years in Nashville to sell for less than
$3,000. The majority are 4-room frame houses, and they rent for
approximately $25 per month. They are of the post foundation
type, and are without furnaces. The same house, with furnace, is
reported to rent for $35 per month. An old house in this group
would rent for but $18.
Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce states
Low-CosT HOUSING PROJECTS 73
that no new houses have been built within the past 5 years to sell
at a cost of less than $3,000 for the house and lot or to rent for
less than $300 a year.
Effort has been made, however, to remodel and recondition old
houses for low-income groups by mortgage companies, banks and
trust companies, and building and loan associations. The Associ-
ated Charities, which moves its tenants when houses are unfit for
habitation, believes this method to be effective in maintaining hous-
ing standards. In 1930 the Association set a minimum standard
for repair and sanitation.
Birmingham, Alabama. The Jemison Companies (real estate
and investment bankers) report that industrial activities and min-
ing operations are located outside of centers of population where
land is plentiful and cheap. This makes it possible to provide de-
tached, inexpensive frame dwellings with a liberal allocation of
land.
The type of house built for the purpose of renting to unskilled labor, white
or colored, is usually a 3-room detached house, or a semi-detached house
with 2 or 3 rooms per family, of frame construction, and on lots ranging
from 25 by 100 to 140 feet for the single house, to 50 by 100 to 140 feet for
the semi-detached house. These houses range in cost from about $500 for
the 3-room detached house to $800 for the 4-room semi-detached, and $1,000
for the 6-room semi-detached house, with about $150 additional where baths
and inside toilets are provided.
Rents in these houses range at present between $10 and $16 per house for
the 4-room dwellings and between $12 and $24 for those of 6 rooms. The
ground values range from $150 to $500 per unit, depending upon location,
proximity to urban centers, trolley lines, etc.
Richmond, Virginia. During the past 5 years, more than 300
houses have been built for both white and colored families, costing
$3,000 or less excluding the cost of the lot. Nearly all of these
are of frame construction and many have modern equipment. Over
50 of the 274 houses built for white families and more than two-
thirds of the 62 built for Negro families cost less than $2,000
excluding the cost of the lot.
Jackson, Mississippi. The Mississippi State Board of De-
velopment reports that during the last 5 years approximately 990
houses have been built at an average cost of $1,480 each. Most
of these are one-story frame dwellings, but a number are of brick
veneer construction and cost about $3,000.
74 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Other Low-Cost Housing
A large mail-order company has a combined financing, planning
and construction plan under which the owner of a lot may borrow
as much as 75 per cent of the combined value of the house and lot.
The company then builds the home for him, either from the own-
er's plans or from plans furnished by the company. The owner
is permitted to pay off the loan in monthly instalments over a
period of 15 years with interest at 6 per cent. The most inexpen-
sive houses are 4-room frame houses, which can be erected for as
low as $3,000 in certain sections of the country.
Inexpensive new homes also are provided by portable-house
companies which manufacture and ship ready-cut houses. The cost
of these varies somewhat, depending upon the cost of labor for
erection.
United States Department of Commerce Survey
The Division of Building and Housing of the United States De-
partment of Commerce has completed a survey of 145 houses. Of
this number only the 6 houses described below were reported in
1929 as selling at $3,000 or less.
Dallas, Texas. One-story, bungalow type, detached, 2^ rooms and
bath, no cellar, frame construction, at $1,950 with lot.
Chester, Pennsylvania. One-story, row house, 5 rooms and bath, cellar,
brick wall, slag roof, no heating plant, at $1,600 with lot; two-story row
house, 6 rooms and bath, brick, hot-air heating, at $2,185 with lot ; two-story,
6 rooms and bath, row house, brick, with hot-air heating, at $2,750 with lot.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two-story, 6 rooms and bath, brick, slag
roof, hot-air heating, at $2,200 with lot.
Seattle, Washington. One-story, bungalow type, detached, 4 rooms
and bath, no cellar, frame construction, at $2,750 with lot.
Better Homes in America Demonstrations
Each year, Better Homes in America demonstrates hundreds of
low-cost houses — both new and remodeled. In 1930 the average
cost of the 3-room houses demonstrated was $1,885; 4-room
houses, $2,424; and 5 rooms, $2,818. These houses are located in
all sections of the country and include many old houses, which
obviously accounts for the low average cost. The cost of the
land is not included. Of the 682 houses demonstrated in the
1930 campaign, nearly a hundred cost $1,500 or less. In the
State of Arkansas, 144 houses, new and old, were demonstrated.
LOW-COST HOUSING PROJECTS 75
Of the 93 of those reporting costs, nearly 20 per cent were valued
at $3,000 or less.
During the Better Homes campaign of each year, extensive
projects are carried on in the remodeling and renovating of houses.
Homes unfit for habitation are converted into sanitary and com-
fortable dwellings. Hundreds of these remodeling projects are
houses valued at less than $800. Most of these dwellings, how-
ever, are located in the southern section of the country, where
building is less expensive than in other sections. In 1930, nearly
4,000 houses were demonstrated in "Better Homes Tours," and
most of these represented reconditioning projects.
Conclusion
The samples of low-cost housing developments and projects de-
scribed in this discussion indicate that some houses and apart-
ments have been built, particularly in connection with large-scale
developments, within the reach of a family with a $1,500 annual
income. It must be kept in mind, also, that the $1,500 income in
small communities is equivalent in purchasing power to a much
higher income in cities. The majority of dwellings, however, in
many of these large-scale developments, although tax exempt,
rent for more than $35 per month, and this amount, in many
instances, rents but a 3-room apartment. Little information has
been obtained through the questionnaire which was sent to cities,
on the type and standard of house that may be purchased or
rented at the cost specified. Low-cost housing should not be in-
terpreted as "cheap" housing, and no dwelling should be erected
below the minimum standard level for these low-income families.
The summary of low-cost housing developments seems to indi-
cate that, although a few projects in low-cost housing are satis-
factory, the majority of families receiving below $1,500 annually
cannot, at present costs, afford new houses representing accept-
able standards, but doubtless will be more satisfactorily housed in
used dwellings. These should represent commendable architectural
design and construction, and should be in good repair.
CHAPTER V
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY1-2
I. Introductory
The primary research project of the Committee on Relationship
of Income and the Home is a study of housing costs and allied
information on home ownership conditions of 789 native born
families having an income of $3,000 or less in 1930, and living
in the City of Buffalo, New York.
The results of this study are offered, not as representative of
the country as a whole, but as a fairly intimate picture of con-
ditions affecting a certain type of family within a large urban
community.
As a setting for the report, some of the salient external facts
concerning Buffalo are presented: The city has a population of
some 575,000. The metropolitan area increases this to about 725,-
000. Buffalo has a relatively large foreign born population, made
up largely of Poles, Italians, Germans and natives of eastern Eu-
ropean countries.- The advantages of the Niagara Frontier Area,
such as abundance of raw materials, power, water, rail and air
transportation facilities, proximity to the greatest markets, and
climate, have combined to make it one of the most highly de-
veloped and most diversified industrial centers in the country.
The Conditions of Sampling
A decision to limit the sample to not more than 800 families
was made primarily from the standpoint of available time, funds
and personnel.
The families selected for study were chosen to insure a high de-
gree of homogeneity in the data, and to illustrate, as well as pos-
1 Prepared under the direction of Professor M. A. Brumbaugh, Vice
Chairman and Secretary of the committee, with the technical assistance of
Mr. William M. Haenszel.
3 Copies of the schedules used by field enumerators together with detailed
instructions to the collecting agents, the coding card used for the electric
tabulating machines, a discussion of methods used in choosing the field
force and editing the schedules have been retained and may be obtained from
the Division of Building and Housing, U. S. Bureau of Standards, by per-
sons interested in conducting similar studies. The original schedules and
machine tabulating cards together with the copies of certain tables made
during the course of the analysis, but not published, are also on file at the
division.
76
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 77
sible, the problems of parents who, at the time that they are en-
gaged in rearing children, have also undertaken to own the homes
in which they live, and are still in the process of paying for them.
Each family included met the following conditions, with slight ex-
ceptions :
1. Total income not exceeding $3,000 in 1930.
2. Family composed of husband and wife and at least one dependent child.
3. Both parents born in the United States.
4. Ownership of home, and still in process of paying for it in 1930.
5. Not more than two roomers or boarders.
6. Living in a one- or two-family dwelling.
7. No doubling up with one or more other families in quarters clearly in-
tended for one family.
Obviously, all families renting their homes, or living in apart-
ments, were excluded.
Although the conditions were adhered to as strictly as possible
throughout the collection of data, a few cases which were viola-
tions in one respect or another, but which met nearly all of the
conditions, were included as indicated in the tables in the body of
the report.
There are, in round numbers, 160,000 families in the metropoli-
tan area covered in this study. Only a small percentage, probably
not more than 3 to 5 per cent, of these would meet the conditions
of sampling as set forth.
II. Description 3
Description of the Property
A recent Buffalo Post Office survey showed 57 per cent of Buf-
falo houses are one- family and 43 per cent are two- family houses.
The principal results of this study, including single houses, two-
family houses and number of apartments in apartment houses, are
set forth in Table I.
In the present study only 789 families were investigated, mak-
ing a small sample of the entire group. Table I shows that 82
per cent of the 789 houses were single-family and 18 per cent
were two-family houses, either duplicate flats or of the income
3 This section of the report is intended to be primarily factual. The tables
which are presented were taken directly from the machine cards by simple
runs. The complex tabulations have been reserved for the section of the
report devoted to analysis. No computations beyond reducing the absolute
figures to percentages and a few averages have been included.
78 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table I. One- and Two-Family Houses and Apartments * in
Buffalo.
Type of
house
Post Office and Real Estate Board
survey (October, 1930)
Buffalo home owner-
ship study
Number
of
houses
Number
of
apartments
Percentage
of
apartments
Number
of
houses
Percentage
of
houses
Single
Two-family. . .
Income f
57,655
42,703
57,655
85,406
36
53
ii
649
119
20
1
82
15
3
Three-family
18^ 308
M ulti-f amily
TOTAL
100,358
161,369
100
789
100
* Apartment includes any space occupied by one family.
t See footnote 4, below.
type.4 The variation of this collection from the city as a whole
arises, no doubt, from the fact that owners of two-family houses
commonly rent both flats, plus the fact that two- family houses
have frequently had to be repossessed by the mortgagee and the
fact that in some sections of the city and with certain classes of
tenants the two-family house is not considered to be a success.
No semi-detached houses were encountered in the course of this
study. Row houses and so-called semi-detached houses are not
common in Buffalo. There is instead, a tendency to build two-
family houses, where one family lives above the other, and small
apartments.
Of the 789 houses included in the study, 786 were of frame, 1
was of brick veneer and 2 were stucco with frame backing. This
ratio of frame construction probably would not apply to all of
the houses in the city. The higher-priced houses are commonly
stone or brick.
Although there are included in this study properties bought in
1890 and in almost every year since that time, only small varia-
tions in frontage of lot appear. Ninety- four per cent of the 789
lots included in the study are between 28 feet and 42 feet in
4 An income house is defined as any dwelling in which the upper story is
smaller in size than the lower, has no separate entrance hall and receives
at least heat in common with the lower apartment.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
79
Table II. Frontage of Lots.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Lot front*
(feet)
Number of
properties
Percentage of
properties
Cumulative percentage
of properties
18-22
4
1
1
23-27
9
1
2
28-32
293
37
39
33-37
337
43
82
38-42
112
14
96
43-47
20
2
98
48-52
6
1
99
53-57
21
58-62
2
63-83
3
1
100
Unknown
1
TOTAL
789
100
* In five-foot intervals.
width, as may be seen in Table II. The 38- to 42- foot lots have
space for the house, a passageway to the garage on one side and
a few feet of grass plot on the other. The 33- to 37- foot lots re-
tain the passageway to the garage but commonly omit the grass
plot. The 28- to 32- foot lots are commonly arranged as are the
wider lots above but the houses are of the 18-foot or 22-foot
front variety.
The 789 families included in the study possess 574 garages
with accommodations for 924 automobiles. (Table III.) How-
ever, over one-fourth of the houses have no garage, and the 2-car
garage is more common than the single-car. The breakdown
shows that, although 68 per cent of the double houses have 2-car
garages as against 30 per cent for the single houses, neverthe-
less the 2-car garage is surprisingly prevalent with single houses.
The figures are: No garage, 188; 1-car garage, 243; 2-car
garage, 197. The absence of a garage is no evidence that the
family is without a car, since garages may be rented readily at a
cost of $5.00 to $8.00 per month. Many families, in purchasing
a home, plan definitely upon additional incomes from the renting
of garage space for one or more cars.
Of the 789 houses included in this study, 772, or 97 per cent,
have a cellar ; 429 of these, or 54 per cent, have an unfinished at-
tic; 220, or 28 per cent, have a finished attic; and 123, or 15 per
80 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table III. Garages Attached to Properties.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Type of
garage
Number of houses according to
garage accommodations
Percentage of houses according
to garage accommodations
Single
houses
Double
houses
Single
houses
Double
houses
None
1-car
2-car
188
243
197
18
"2
27
12
96
5
1
29
38
30
3
19
9
68
4
3-car
4-car
5-car
TOTAL . .
648
141
100
100
cent, have no attic. Of the remaining 3 per cent having no cel-
lars, 7 had an unfinished attic, 4 a finished attic and 6 no attic.
The size of house as indicated by number of rooms5 occupied
by the family which this report covers, is shown in Table IV.
Six-, 7-, and 8-room houses make up 83 per cent of the total. A
high degree of uniformity exists in the allotment of rooms in the
6-, 7-, and 8-room houses.
Table IV. Number of Rooms in Houses.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Number of rooms
Number of
houses
Percentage
of houses
Cumulative percentage
of houses
3
1
4
6
1
1
5. .
61
8
9
6
272
34
43
7
237
30
73
8
152
19
92
9
47
6
98
10
6
1
99
11. .
7
1
100
TOTAL
789
100
5 In all sections of this report the following have been counted as rooms :
Library, living-room, den, playroom, sewing-room, dining-room, kitchen,
laundry-room (not in cellar), reception hall (does not include area between
two entrance doors), glass enclosed porches, and bedroom.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
81
Table V. Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms in Houses.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Number of bedrooms and baths
Number of houses
Percentage of houses
2 bedrooms — 1 bath
172
22
3 bedrooms — 1 bath . . .
528
67
4 bedrooms — 1 bath
5 bedrooms — 1 bath
72
9
9
1
2 bedrooms — 2 baths
3 bedrooms — 2 baths
4 bedrooms — 2 baths
5 bedrooms — 2 baths
11
l\
1
6 bedrooms — 2 baths
3J
TOTAL .
789
100
Table V shows the number of bedrooms and bathrooms found
in the houses investigated in the study. Two-thirds of the houses
have three bedrooms and one bathroom. There is no house
covered by the study without a bathroom. Eight of the houses
contain two bathrooms.
History and Cost of the Property
The houses bought by the group studied are not old, as is shown
by Table VI. Seventy-one per cent of these houses have been built
since 1921, while only 2 per cent date back to the years before
Table VI. Year of Construction of Houses Owned.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Houses
Houses
Houses
Year
Year
Year
built
built
built
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
Prior to
1901
16
2
1911
8
1
1922
42
5
1901
2
1912
7
1
1923
113
14
1902
0
1913
12
2
1924
103
13
1903
1
1914
13
2
1925
75
10
1904
2
1915
11
1
1926
70
9
1905
5
1
1916
14
2
1927
62
8
1906
4
1
1917
10
1
1928
59
8
1907
0
1918
17
2
1929
30
4
1908
3
1919
23
3
1930
2
1909
3
1920
19
2
Unknown
26
3
1910
7
1
1921
30
4
TOTAL...
789
100
82 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
1901. These home owners quite clearly bought houses built dur-
ing the building boom which started in 1921, and reached a peak
in 1923-4. The number of home purchasers has declined since
1924, and since that time there has been a gradual recession from
the high point of activity reached by the building trade.
As to the prices paid by the present owners, a tabulation has
been made of all the 789 houses covered in this survey, and also a
separate tabulation of the 603 houses purchased in 1922 or later.
These are shown in Table VII, both single houses and two-family
houses being included in each tabulation.
In the first group comprising all of the houses, the modal price
of single houses was between $5,000 and $7,000. The arithmetic
average price was $6,131. The modal price for two-family houses
was between $9,000 and $10,000. The arithmetic average price
was $8,530. There is greater price concentration in single houses
than in two-family houses. This fact is quite evident in Chart I.
The frequency curve representing two-family houses is almost
bimodal, one mode falling in the $9,000 to $10,000 class and the
other between $4,000 and $6,000. This accounts for the fact that
the average price 'falls below the modal price.
The lack of concentration in the price of two-family houses re-
ferred to in the last paragraph calls for further investigation. The
natural surmise is that the low-priced houses were purchased before
the war when prices were at lower levels and land values were
materially lower. To test the validity of this assumption, a sepa-
rate tabulation was made of the purchase price of properties
bought by the present owner in 1922 or later. Within this period
71 per cent of the properties were purchased by the present owners.
Likewise, it is a period of .relatively stable economic conditions
with no radical upheavals or violent price fluctuations. The dis-
tribution shows quite clearly that the bimodal distribution of the
price of two-family houses as found on Chart I was caused mainly
by the properties purchased prior to 1922. Eighty per cent of the
single houses in the study were purchased since 1922, while only
61 per cent of the two-family houses were purchased since that
time.
III. Financing the Property
In studying the cost of the property to the owner, a great deal
depends upon the interest rate paid on the mortgages and whether
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
83
CO
O
O
>
<L>
3
CO
£4
purch
p
u
f
CO
ber
s
'-I CS CO lO PD OO lO T-I
•r-l CN CN •rH
8
8
^ O^ ON O\ O\ ON O^ ON
ON ON ON ON ON ON ON ON
ONONONONON
ON O\
ON ON
§1 £
'-
l— ( ^H i-H |— 1
84 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Chart I
Cost of Single Houses and Two-Family Houses Owned,
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Cost in
hundreds of
dollars
75 85 95 K6 115 125
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 85
or not payments are being made on the principal of the mortgages.
Nearly all of the mortgages on properties included in this study
carry a 6 per cent nominal interest rate. There are some agencies
now writing mortgages at 5 per cent and ST/2 per cent but they
are decidedly in the minority. A few cases were found of odd
nominal rates but they were negligible. With so little variation in
the nominal rates paid, this factor becomes unimportant compared
to other charges on the mortgages. These charges frequently
operate to make the effective rate considerably higher than the
stipulated or nominal rate. The most important of these addi-
tional charges are the premium paid for the placing of a mortgage
at the time of purchasing the property, and the renewal charges
which must be met on mortgages which are written for only a few
years. In some instances, the mortgages have had to be refinanced
a few years after the house was purchased, a procedure which may
involve substantial costs to the home owner. Then there is a vari-
ation according to whether the periodic payments made on the prin-
cipal of the mortgage are used to reduce the principal or go into a
sinking fund leaving the interest charges constant until the sinking
fund is large enough to cancel the mortgage. There is a direct
relation between these additional charges and the type of financing
agency holding the mortgage.6
In Table VIII is given a separation of the 789 cases according
to whether or not periodic payments are being made on the prin-
cipal of the mortgages. The most common practice is to have the
second mortgage amortized 7 and the first not amortized. The next
largest percentage occurs in those cases in which the first mortgage
is not amortized and there is no second. These cases are in reality
not much different. The latter are, for the most part, cases in
which the second mortgage has already been cancelled by the
process which is still in progress in the former case. The first
mortgage is being amortized in only 16 per cent of the cases.
9 For renewal charges of different financing agencies see Table XXX.
7 The word amortized is used in an extended sense to include all cases in
which regular periodic payments are made to the mortgagee for the purpose
of eventually retiring the mortgage. This is, of course, a somewhat loose
use of the word since it includes the cases in which the periodic payments
are used to build up a sinking fund which will accumulate to the face of the
mortgage at the end of a certain time, as well as the cases in which the
periodic payments are used to reduce the face of the mortgage. The latter
is the correct sense.
86 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table IX provides an answer to a very vital question in this
study, namely, who holds the mortgages on these properties. The
Table VIII. Amortization of Mortgages.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Mortgage conditions
Number of
properties
Percentage of
properties
First not amortized, second not amortized. . .
First not amortized, second amortized
First amortized, second amortized
90
331
27
11
42
3
First amortized, second not amortized
First amortized, no second
9
97
1
12
First not amortized no second
225
29
No first mortgage
5
1
Unknown . .
5
1
TOTAL .
789
100
first mortgages and second mortgages have been tabulated sepa-
rately because they usually are not held by the same type of agency.
Forty-one per cent of the homes either have the second mortgage
paid off or never had any. Of 444 second mortgages standing,
Table IX. First and Second Mortgages — Holdings accord-
ing to Types of Agency.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Agency holding mortgage
First mortgage
Second mortgage
Number of
properties
Percentage
of
properties
Number of
properties
Percentage
of
properties
Private individual
295
204
30
56
104
73
0
5
22
37
26
4
7
13
9
'i
3
397
3
6
11
22
0
5
324
21
50
0.3
1
1
3
'0.7
41
3
Savings bank
Commercial bank
Savings and loan association
Finance company
Insurance company . .
Other
No mortgage
Unknown
TOTAL
789
100
789
100
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
87
Table X. Life of First and Second Mortgages.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Number of years for
which written
First mortgage
Second mortgage
Number of
properties
Percentage
of
properties
Number of
properties
Percentage
of
properties
1
43
40
104
5
60
8
11
18
3
123
151
223*
5
5
13
1
8
1
1
2
1
16
19
28
11
2
40
16
45
18
30
35
12
174
53
29*
2
1
9
3
10
4
6
8
3
37
11
6
2
3
4
5.
6
7.
8
9
10 and over
Unknown
Indefinite (unlimited) . . .
TOTAL
789
100
465
100
* This number *is too large, due to the fact that many home owners insisted
that their mortgages were indefinite, whereas the agents interviewing them
were certain that they were 1-year mortgages with customary automatic
renewal.
only 42 were held by agencies other than private individuals. In
this connection, savings banks and insurance companies do not
carry second mortgages in New York State and savings and loan
associations do so only under special conditions.
No single agency holds any marked supremacy in the first mort-
gage field. The small percentage of mortgages held by savings and
loan associations is worth noting. Savings and loan associations
in Buffalo lend mainly on first mortgage security, and usually on
an amortization basis. But only 16 per cent of the first mortgages
on the 789 properties of this study are being amortized. The group
studied here, therefore, cannot be taken as representative of the
main field of savings and loan associations. The importance in
this field of savings banks arises partly from the fact that many
savings banks in central and western New York have invested
heavily in Buffalo real estate mortgages.
Table X, showing the number of years for which mortgages
are written, is not susceptible of accurate interpretation because
88 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
of the large unknown class, and the fact that in many instances
the householder insisted that the mortgage was written for an
indefinite period, whereas the agent interviewing the householder
felt satisfied that it was a short-term mortgage on which the
holder had never been required to request a renewal. The net effect
of this practice is, of course, to make of it an indefinite mortgage,
but the fact remains that the holder may call for a renewal or a
discharge at any time at his option.
The most important fact in this table concerns the short-term
mortgage. Twenty-three per cent of the first mortgages were
written for 3 years or less. These short-term mortgages have
given rise to practices which are frequently inimical to the best
interests of the purchaser, and are not easily justifiable from the
standpoint of the lender. The complaints made by householders
to the interviewing agents frequently concerned the difficulties
arising from attempts to renew short-term mortgages. It is not
uncommon for lending agencies to charge as high as 6 per cent
every 3 years for the renewal of mortgages. This is an added
burden on the house owner, is usually unanticipated and invariably
leads to bitterness between the lender and borrower.
A few houses included in the study carried three mortgages
at the time of purchase. These third mortgages were small in
amount and existed only on 9 properties, 777 never having had
them, and the facts being unknown in three instances. Of the 9
mentioned, 8 were alive at the time of this study and only 1 of
these was not amortized. In most cases these mortgages were
only nominal mortgages held by a relative.
IV. Occupation, Earnings and Composition of the Family
Which Owns the Property
The chief emphasis in this section of the report is on annual
income of the principal breadwinner and of the entire family.
Incidental to this, facts on age, occupation, employment and
family composition have been gathered for 1930 as well as for
the year prior to purchase of the home. All of these things are
necessary as a means of obtaining a somewhat detailed picture
of the conditions in the homes which we are studying.
Table XI provides an answer to the question as to the age at
which home purchase is undertaken. The most common age of
the principal breadwinner is twenty-eight to thirty-two, but the
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
89
Table XI. Age of Principal Breadwinner — Year Prior to
Purchase of Home and in 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Age
Breadwinners, yearvprior
to purchase of home
Breadwinners, 1930
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
18-22
15
95
210
178
119
66
49
28
12
3
1
1
'l2
2
12
27
22
15
8
6
4
2
'i
io
83
184
168
137
72
58
30
18
7
1}
14
5
'i
10
23
21
17
9
8
4
2
1
1
2
1
23-27
28-32
33-37
38-42
43-47
48-52
53-57
58-62
63-67
68-72
73-77
78-82
Dead
Unknown
TOTAL
789
100
789
100
next two age classes are quite well represented. The arithmetic
average age of thirty-six years is well above the mode. The un-
grouped records show that 22 per cent purchase homes before
they reach thirty years of age, 47 per cent between the ages of
thirty and forty, and 31 per cent after they pass forty. The
average age of these breadwinners in 1930 was forty-two years,
as compared with thirty-six years in the year prior to purchase,
showing that on the average the properties included in this study
have been in the hands of the present owner for 6 years.
The occupation of the principal breadwinner during the year
prior to home purchase and during 1930 for the 789 families of
the study is presented in Table XII. For the group as a whole,
there have been only negligible shifts in occupation between the
year prior to home purchase and 1930. This result coincides
strictly with what would be expected in the entire employed popu-
lation. The relative importance of different occupational groups
should change over long periods only. The table shows that the
home owners were found most frequently among skilled laborers
90 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XII. Occupation of Principal Breadwinner-
Prior to Purchase and During 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
-Year
Occupation*
Breadwinners, year prior
to purchase of home
Breadwinners, 1930
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
Public jobs
45
27
79
118
380
70
55
4\
5}
6
3
10
15
48
9
7
1
1
48
28
76
110
361
73
55
7
31
6
3
10
14
46
9
7
1
4
Professional
Proprietary
Clerical
Skilled
Semi-skilled
Unskilled
Unemployed
Incapacitated or dead . . .
Unknown
TOTAL. .
789
100
789
100
* The classification of occupations used in this study is essentially that
presented by Sydenstricker, Edgar, and Notestein, Frank W., in "Differential
Fertility According to Social Class," Journal of the American Statistical Asso-
ciation, March, 1930, pp. 9-32.
and that more semi-skilled than unskilled workers own their
homes. The so-called mental workers, professional, proprietary
and clerical make up about one-fourth of the total.
Partly as a guide to the amount of abnormality existing in the
1930 data, the number of weeks employed during the year prior
to purchase of a home and number of weeks employed during
1930 were obtained for the principal breadwinner of each family,
and are presented in Table XIII and Chart II.
During the year prior to purchase of the home 90 per cent of
the breadwinners were employed 40 weeks or more and 81 per
cent were employed full time. Contrasted with this, in 1930 only
75 per cent were employed 40 weeks or more and only 64 per cent
were employed full time. In 1930, 16 per cent were employed
half time or less, while during the year prior to purchase of the
home only 2 per cent fell in this class. When the principal bread-
winner was employed part time for the entire year he was con-
sidered as fully employed. As a result, the figures tend to under-
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
91
Chart II
Number of Weeks Principal Breadwinner Was Employed-
Year Prior to Purchase of Home and 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Number
of
Bread-
winners
600
500
Number of weeks
92 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XIII. Number of Weeks of Employment of Principal
Breadwinner — Year Prior to Home Purchase and in 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Number of weeks
employed
Breadwinners, year prior
to purchase of home
Breadwinners, 1930
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
0- 7
10
|
10
12
53
33
640
20
1
1
1
2
7
4
81
3
47
13
6
22
29
37
27
68
32
507
1
6
2
1
3
4
4
3
9
4
64
8-12
13-17
18-22
23-27. ...
28-32
33-37
38-42
43-47
48-52
Unknown
TOTAL .
789
100
789
100
estimate the amount of unemployment. Of the breadwinners who
were totally unemployed, several were physically incapacitated by
accident and were receiving compensation.
Table XIV is a simple tabulation of the earnings of the principal
breadwinner during the year prior to purchase of the home and
during 1930. Since a few of these homes were purchased as early
as 1900 and many of them were purchased more than 10 years
ago, the figures on earnings during the year prior to home purchase
are necessarily partly estimated. Particular care was taken to
reconcile, by further investigation, any cases in which the reported
earnings were inconsistent with the occupation or with the gen-
eral wage scale prevailing at the time the home was purchased.
The arithmetic average earnings at the time of home purchase,
excluding the 9 unknown cases, were $2,057, while the 1930 aver-
age earnings were $1,902. The median earnings for these 2 years
were respectively $2,000 and $1,970; while the modal earnings are
in each instance about $2,000 and $2,029. The distribution for
1930 is less symmetrical than that for the year prior to home
purchase, but the departure from symmetry is not great. The
representative earnings were lower in 1930 than they were in the
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
93
Table XIV. Annual Earnings of Principal Breadwinner —
Year Prior to Home Purchase and During 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Breadwinners, year
Breadwinners, 1930,
prior to purchase of
Breadwinners, 1930
employed 48 weeks
Annual
home
or more*
earnings
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
0- 249.
5
1
27
3
250- 749.
12
2
39
5
"3
'i
750-1,249.
67
8
104
13
26
6
1,250-1,749.
164
21
122
17
41
10
1,750-2.249.
267
34
223
28
133
33
2,250-2,749.
153
19
154
19
116
28
2,750-3,249.
69
9
101
13
78
19
3.250-3,749.
26
3
17
2
10
2
3,750-4,749.
10
1
2
2
1
4,750-6,749.
7
1
. .
Unknown. . .
9
1
••
TOTAL. . .
789
100
789
100
409
100
Restricted to breadwinners who purchased homes in 1922 or later.
year prior to purchase. This, of course, is a function of industrial
depression.8
As evidence of this point, the two right-hand columns of Table
XIV show the distribution of income of those breadwinners who
in 1930 were employed 48 weeks or more — that being taken as a
standard of full-time employment.
In order to eliminate a further source of noncomparability, only
those breadwinners were included who purchased their homes in
1922 or later. The arithmetic average annual income for the
group is $2,252. This figure is considerably higher than the
average of $2,057 found for the year prior to home purchase, but
the latter includes those employed less than 48 weeks during the
year as well as those who purchased a home prior to the war.
The average income of breadwinners who purchased homes in
8 It would seem logical that, under normal conditions, the average earnings
of the same group should be considerably higher in 1930 than in the year
prior to home purchase, since the average breadwinner was nearer his maxi-
mum earning age.
94 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XV. Annual Family Income — Year Prior to Home
Purchase and 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Annual income
Families, year prior to
purchase of home
Families, 1930
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
0- 249..
4
10
60
162
259
163
77
29
10
7
8
1
'1
P. 7
20
33
21
10
4
1
1
1
4
24
95
137
219
163
120
24
3
1
3
12
17
28
21
15
3
250- 749
750-1,249
1,250-1,749
1,750-2,249
2,250-2,749.
2,750-3,249....
3,250-3,749
3,750-4,749
4,750-6,749
Unknown
TOTAL
789
100
789
100
1922 or later was found to be $2,164. This means that the average
income of breadwinners who purchased their homes in 1922 or
later was some $88 higher in 1930 than in the year prior to home
purchase when only those employed full time in 1930 are con-
sidered. The figure for the year prior to home purchase is not
confined to breadwinners who were employed full time. This in-
duces only negligible noncomparability since there was compara-
tively little unemployment during the year prior to home purchase.
Table XV differs from the preceding one only in that it in-
cludes the entire family earnings,9 whereas the preceding two are
based on the earnings of the principal breadwinner alone. The
measures of central tendency are slightly higher. For the year
prior to home purchase, the arithmetic average family earnings
were $2,095, the median earnings $2,020, and the modal earnings
$2,000. These results, show that the principal breadwinner's in-
come, for the group as a whole, was increased only slightly,
although, in many individual cases, the percentage added was
"Family earnings include the income of the principal breadwinner from
other sources, as well as wages, plus any earnings of the wife or dependent
children. It does not include the earnings of children who were living at
home but were not dependent.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 95
substantial. For 1930, the measures were, arithmetic average
$2,041, median $2,059, and mode $2,022. Comparison with the
corresponding results in Table XIV show that the principal bread-
winner's earnings have been augmented to an appreciable extent
in 1930. It is also important to note that although the principal
breadwinner's earnings averaged lower in 1930 than in the year
prior to home purchase, the same is not true of average family
earnings which were about equal during the two periods.
Taken at face value these averages would seem to indicate that
other members of the family have gone to work in 1930 in order
to offset the reduced earnings of the principal breadwinner and
bolster up the family income. However, children of these families
were older by anywhere from one to eight or ten years or more
in 1930 than at the time these homes were purchased and this in-
crease in auxiliary earnings might, in large measure, be set down
merely to the increased earning power of these individuals attend-
ant upon their growing up. Some of these auxiliary earners may
have been actually less employed than they were before the de-
pression.
The distribution of family earnings during the year prior to
home purchase and during 1930 is shown on Chart III. The
symmetrical character of the distributions as indicated by the
value of the measures of central tendency is quite apparent on
the chart.
There is considerable variation in the number of dependents 10
of the 789 families of the study, as shown in Table XVI. In
1930, 15 per cent of the families had more than three dependents
while in the year prior to home purchase only 11 per cent had
more than three dependents. Thirty-one per cent had more than
two dependents in 1930 as compared with 21 per cent in the year
prior to home purchase. Sixty-two per cent had more than one
dependent in 1930 as compared with 46 per cent in the year prior
to home purchase. In these comparisons the wife, or the husband
in case he was not the principal breadwinner, was not counted
as a dependent.
The average was 2.17 dependents in 1930 whereas in the year
10 We have taken dependent to mean a child whose annual earnings do not
exceed $800 and, in a few cases, an adult relative of the principal breadwin-
ner who is physically incapacitated. The housewife was not included as a
dependent.
96 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Chart III
Family Income 1 Year Prior to Purchase of Home
and in 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
1
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
97
Table XVI. Number of Dependents in Family — Year Prior
to Home Purchase and in 1930.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Number of
dependents
Families, year prior to
purchase of home
Families, 1930
Num-
ber
Per
cent
Cumulative
per cent
Num-
ber
Per
cent
Cumulative
per cent
0
157
271
201
83
36
22
15
1}
20
34
25
10
5
3
2
1
20
54
79
89
94
97
99
100
19
285
244
123
64
27
12
6
21
3
1
1
2.
2
36
31
16
8
3
2
1
1
2
38
69
85
93
96
98
99
100
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
Unknown
TOTAL
789
100
789
100
prior to purchase it was 1.64. More completed families are in-
cluded, and home purchase often accompanies anticipated or actual
increased size of family. On the other hand, many children de-
pendent during the year prior to home purchase have now married
or, if still at home, are no longer dependent.
V. Down Payments on Home Purchases
Because small down payments often lead to heavy carrying
charges and the necessity of rearranging the entire financing plan,
particularly in times of declining real estate values, such refinanc-
ing is likely, in certain instances, to entail serious difficulties for
the home owner. In advance of the discussion of the amount of
down payments given later in the report, Table XVII presents
the number of down payments arising from different sources.
Seventy-eight per cent of the families made the first payment
on their homes entirely from previous savings while another 8 per
cent derived part of their down payment from previous savings.
Previous savings are thus seen to be an extremely important ele-
98 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XVII. Source of Down Payment on Property.
(789 Buffalo Properties.)
Source
Number of
families
Per cent of
families
Previous savings
617
78
Inherited money
31
4
Business profits
10
1
Savings and inheritance
25
3
Savings and profits ...
5
1
Inheritance and profits
IV
Savings, inheritance and profits
Insurance, gifts, and borrowed money. . .
Savings and one of above
2/
59
28
1
7
4
No down payment
8
1
Unknown
1
TOTAL ....
789
100
ment in planning the purchase of a home. The collecting agents
found many cases of housewives who stated that they had to
defer the purchase -of a home until they were able to save enough
money to meet the initial payments.
VI. Consequences of Home Purchase
The collection schedule included a question on the changes that
had occurred, as a result of home purchase, in the expenditures
for thirteen miscellaneous items of the family budget. The re-
plies to this question are shown in Table XVIII and Chart IV.
The reader should be aware of the fact that a great deal of in-
accuracy is to be expected in the table. The question itself is a
violation of some of the rules of schedule making in that the
replies must be opinions although they give the appearance of fact.
The opinions given will naturally be biased because past events
in retrospect will usually take on content in terms of present con-
ditions. Since the present condition is one of economic stress for
a majority of these families, it follows that a mental attitude of
stress will be present in the form of bias in the answers to the
questions.
In all but three phases of family expenditure in the table, the
majority of replies were "no change." It might be concluded
from this that the replies have very little value. Such a conclusion
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
99
Table XVIII. Effect of Home Purchase upon the House-
hold Budget — Changes in Amount Expended
for 13 Miscellaneous Items.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Effect
Education
Auto-
mobile
Household
furnishings
Clothes
Other
savings
Motion
pictures
Books
Increased
77
610
101
1
70
580
138
1
376
358
54
1
58
419
310
2
14
251
523
1
26
453
309
1
44
539
205
No change
Decreased
Unknown
TOTAL
789
789
789
789
789
789
789
Effect
Vacation
Paid house-
hold help
Household
equipment
Life
insurance
Theater
Magazines
Increased
No change
28
529
231
1
23
683
81
2
429
333
26
87
590
111
1
19
477
291
2
51
566
170
2
Decreased
Unknown
TOTAL
789
789
789
789
789
789
is scarcely warranted after closer inspection of the table. Taking
paid household help as an example, practically all of the 683 "no
change" replies came from housewives who quite obviously em-
ployed no household help either before purchase of the home or
since purchasing; so that the preponderance of "decrease" replies
among those who did have any change would lead one to conclude
that there was a decline in the employment of paid household help.
The large number of replies stating a decline in other savings
is rather convincing evidence of the value of this tabulation. It is
fairly clear that a middle-class family taking on the burden of
home purchase would be under the necessity of curtailing other
savings methods. The same "inherent honesty" in the replies is
evidenced by the number of cases of decreased expenditure for
clothing. Of the same character is the increase in expenditure for
both household furnishings and household equipment.
Table XVIII will aid in visualizing the effect of home purchase
on each item.
Table XIX sets forth the degree of satisfaction reported by
home owners in their ownership. Graded in the order of the una-
nimity of the replies, the enforcement of saving habits ranks first.
The next arises from the ability to have the kind of houses desired.
Chart IV
Effect of Home Purchase Upon 13 Miscellaneous Items of
the Household Budget.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Education
Life Insu
Other Sav
Paid Hous
Household
Furnish! a
Household
Equipment
Clothes
Vacation's
Trips
Automobile
Movie Att
Theaters
Books
Magazines
INCREASED
NO CHANGE
100
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
101
Table XIX. Advantages and Satisfactions Arising from
Home Ownership.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Rej
>Iy
Percen
tage
Form of question
Yes
No
Unknown
Yes
No
Able to have kind of house desired . . .
658
130
1
83
17
Has forced family to save to make pay-
ments
714
M
2
90
10
Can afford to make improvements and re-
pairs as desired . .
555
?31
3
71
?9
Has increased interest in community af-
fairs
543
?44
2
69
31
An affirmative answer to this question probably also subsumes
that imponderable attitude designated as "pride of ownership."
The next in order is the gratification of that innate American de-
sire, which might be covered by the expression "to putter around
the house."
Of slightly less importance is the increased interest in com-
munity affairs. It is likely that the informants understood this
last question to refer to social affairs such as picnics, booster days,
women's clubs, politics and the like, whereas the intention was
to include questions such as taxation, sewers, garbage removal,
public utility services, etc. Rightly understood, one would sup-
pose the percentage of affirmative answers to the question would
be higher.
There is unquestionably a bias in these answers. There must
be considerable inaccuracy in them. The list is, of a certainty,
incomplete. In spite of these disqualifications, the things presented
by the table are fundamental to the continued existence and growth
of what is best in American family life.
Under the heading of other satisfactions, the collection schedules
refer repeatedly to the single word, "children." The mothers of
these families receive a benefit from home ownership which to them
is as important as any listed above. It is freedom for the chil-
dren, a space for play, a home in which to develop into normal
healthy men and women.
Wishing to be fair and to present both sides of the problem, a
102 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XX. Disadvantages and Dissatisfactions Arising
from Home Ownership.
(789 Buffalo Families.)
Re]
Dly
Percerj
tage
Form of question
Yes
No
Unknown
Yes
No
Has it interfered with moving to another
community to take another job?
95
693
1
12
88
Has it interfered with moving to a larger
or smaller house as family size changed?. .
Has it interfered with moving to another
location to be nearer place of work or
children's school'* . .
52
41
736
747
1
1
7
5
93
95
question was inserted in the schedule asking for information on the
disadvantages of home ownership. Table XX shows that in 95
per cent of the cases, home ownership has not prevented the
family from living more conveniently with regard to employment
or schooling of children. In 93 per cent of the cases it has not
forced the family to occupy quarters not suited to the needs of the
family. As one housewife put it, "We adjusted the house to suit
the family." In 12 per cent of the cases, home ownership has
interfered with moving to another community to take another job.
The tables and charts which have been presented in the fore-
going descriptive section of the report are intended to give the
reader a set-up of basic information which has been collected for
the 789 home owning families of the study, covering first, the de-
scription of the property, then the conditions attendant upon the
purchase of the property, the composition and conditions of the
family and, finally, the consequences of home purchase.
VII. Analysis of Information and Data
In the sections that follow, the data that were presented in the
first part of this discussion are subjected to a more elaborate
analysis. Particular attention is devoted to that series of inter-
related facts with which this study is most deeply concerned,
namely, those involving the relationship of income and home
ownership.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
103
Table XXI. Purchase Price of Property, with Average
Down Payment and Face Value of Mortgages —
Properties Purchased in 1922 or Later.
(619 Buffalo Properties.)
Cost of property to
present owner
Num-
ber of
cases
Average
down
pay-
ment
Average
face
value —
first
mortgage
Average
face
value —
second
mortgage
Percentage of total cost
Down
payment
First
mortgage
Second
mortgage
2 000- 2,999
11
27
32
158
134
95
62
41
23
14
22
430
880
1,120
750
1,360
2,100
1,890
2,270
2,730
2,980
4,400
1,630
1,520
2,410
2,930
3,410
3,740
4,330
4,880
5,120
5,700
5,870
440
1,120
930
1,740
1,660
1,570
2,000
2,050
2,310
2,410
2,390
17.2
25.0
25.1
13.5
21.5
28.3
23.0
24.7
26.9
26.9
34.8
65.2
43.2
54.1
54.3
53.9
50.5
52.7
53.0
50.4
51.4
46.4
17.6
31.8
20.8
32.2
24.6
21.2
24.3
22.3
22.7
21.7
18.8
3,000- 3,999
4,000- 4,999 . .
5,000- 5,999
6,000- 6,999
7,000- 7,999
8,000- 8,999
9,000- 9,999
10,000-10,999
1 1 , 000-1 1 , 999 ... .
12,000-15,999
TOTAL OR AVERAGE
619
1,580
3,570
1,700
23.1
52.1
24.8
The analyses which follow fall into the following main groups :
Purchase price of property and mortgage costs.
Income and mortgage costs.
Renewal charges on first and second mortgages related to type of financing
agency.
Income, age, occupation and employment in various relations.
Miscellaneous relationships.
Purchase Price of Property and Mortgage Costs
Information concerning the division of the price of the proper-
ties into down payment and original face value of mortgages
appears in Table XXI. In order to eliminate one element of varia-
tion, the 169 properties purchased prior to 1922 were excluded
from this table. The period from 1922 to 1929, as pointed out
earlier in the report, was one of fairly stable business and real
estate conditions in Buffalo, so that average values of down pay-
ments and mortgages should be, for the most part, free from the
usual objections to averages taken over a period of years.
The table shows that, regardless of the price of the property,
the first mortgage represents slightly more than 50 per cent of
that price. Further, it shows that the down payment and the
second mortgage each represent about 25 per cent of the price.
The percentage distribution of these averages for properties of
different price groups shows that, as the cost of the property in-
creases, there is a tendency for the percentage of the price which
104 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
is paid in cash to increase, with a corresponding decrease in the
percentage of the second mortgage.
The distribution of mortgage costs in $10 intervals for different
mortgage conditions is presented in Table XXII. These mort-
gage costs are given on a monthly basis.
In the 330 cases in which the second mortgage is being amor-
tized but the first is not being amortized, the average monthly
mortgage cost is $44.36. This includes payment of interest on
both mortgages and payment on the principal of the second. In
27 cases, payments were being made on the principal of both mort-
gages. Under this condition, the average monthly payment
amounted to $52.78. When no payments were being made on
the principal of either mortgage, the average monthly interest
charge was $26.61. This case compared with the preceding one
would indicate that when both mortgages are being amortized, the
amount paid off for amortization is, on the average, about equal
to the amount paid as interest. When only the second mortgage
is being amortized the monthly payments are, on the average, 67
per cent greater than when no amortization is made. Amortization
of mortgages, of -course, means higher monthly payments. The
further fact, however, that monthly payments are not increased
proportionately when both mortgages are being amortized, is of
some importance since it suggests an inelastic limit to the demands
that can be made upon home purchasers in a given income group.
The suggestion was made in the preceding paragraph that mort-
gage costs for amortized mortgages do not increase proportionately
with increase in the cost of the property. This premise will now
be examined more closely. In Tables XXIII and XXIV the prop-
erties purchased in 1922 or later have been separated into two
groups according to whether the mortgages were being amortized
or not. Table XXIII shows the cost of properties in $1,000 inter-
vals related to monthly mortgage costs in $10 intervals for 220
cases of unamortized mortgages. In most cases, the present in-
terest payments probably are being made on the original face
value of the mortgages. Since there is only a slight increase in the
percentage of total cost which is covered in the down payment
as the cost of the property increases, it follows that there should
be a direct relation between the increase in the cost of the property
and the increase in the monthly mortgage payments. " The coeffi-
cient of correlation is +44 per cent. This is not as high as the logic
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
105
1
o
V
CO
CO
i-H
E
I
&
I
O
CO
I
o
o
o
s
x
•8
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oj
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CO CN
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il
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: « - : : : : :
*
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**•
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OO OO
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,_ (V! _i ^H CN ...
^
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OON
O
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v x
OON
• C5 ^^ '"H co v*
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CN • •
CN
0
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So
OON
CN 00 >O CN 00 ...
«O
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OON
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§
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"
OON
L/-> t^. IO CN VO i-H • •
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^
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8£
OO rh >O CN >O O • •
^
^>
t-H CN CN ••-< • •
OO
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T-l
OON
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!>. I-- CN T-l 00 OO • •
co
CO CN CN »0 • •
T-H
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co co *— i CN O
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.
CN T-I CN • •
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T— 1 T-H
1-1
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ON
T-H v-H • * CO 1O CO
CO
CO
g
i :-§ :-g :o :g : :
0
TrJ -rT-d 8 : 8 : Q :^cr • •
ortgage condi
.QrtQQd) 'Dtsio) !b ! '.
Ill if If If; I j
^^^^O.^OgO -^^-j .g
TOTAL
S
_g w^ wfg rt_g G_g 0_^ w o'S
J-L-, fr. fr. fy. f^j fr . *^. Lj
106 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XXIII. Unamortized Mortgages— Relation of Monthly
Payments to Cost of Properties Purchased
in 1922 or Later.
(218 Buffalo Properties.)
Cost of property
Monthly mortgage payments (dollars)
Total
0-
9.99
10.00-
19.99
20.00-
29.99
30.00-
39.99
40.00-
49.99
50 00-
59 99
2,000- 2,999...
2
'i
11
18
17
22
7
2
2
2
'i
3
11
24
12
15
8
5
7
'4
5
3
4
3
7
2
'3
i
2
3
16
33
52
41
26
18
10
17
3,000- 3,999 ..
4,000- 4,999...
2
2
7
2
1
5,000- 5,999
6,000- 6,999
7,000- 7,999
8,000- 8,999
9,000- 9 999
10,000-10,999...
11,000-15,999
TOTAL
16
83
86
26
6
1
218
of the case would lead one to expect. The most plausible explana-
tion for this would be the existence of a nonlinear relation between
the two sets of data. To determine this, the correlation ratio of
monthly mortgage cost on cost of property was computed. This
is 46 per cent. Since the variation of 2 points between the correla-
tion coefficient and the correlation ratio falls well within the limits
of the probable error of the coefficients, there are no grounds for
believing that the relation is nonlinear. With this possible cause
of the low coefficient removed, we turn to the table for an explana-
tion. The grouping of frequencies along the principal diagonal
is good enough near the center of the table to warrant expecting
a high coefficient but at both extremes the frequencies diverge.
The number of such cases is not large but is sufficient to bring
about the low coefficient. There are two causes; first, the indi-
vidual variations in the down payments result in increase or de-
crease in the face of the mortgage, as the case may be, and cor-
respondingly the monthly mortgage payments are carried above
or below their expected position; secondly, there are some cases
in the study in which the second mortgage was paid off in the past
in a lump sum. These were not considered as cases of amortiza-
tion, hence are included in this table. With one mortgage dis-
charged, the monthly mortgage payments related to cost of prop-
erty would be less than the expectation.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 107
Table XXIV contains the same type of facts, but for amortized
mortgages. This brings in a new element of variability. Interest
charges must increase with increase in the cost of the property,
provided the mortgage is about the same percentage of the total
cost. When the new element — payment on the principal of the
mortgages — is introduced, the direct relation of monthly pay-
ments to cost of property is lost, because monthly payments on
the principal of the mortgages were found to vary anywhere from
$1.00 to $50.00. Further, a high-priced property may have very
small monthly amortization payments with 15- to 20-year maturity
of the mortgage. On the other hand, a low-priced property may
have relatively large monthly amortization payments and short-
term maturity of the mortgage. In one section of the city, the
second mortgages were amortized at the rate of $50.00 annually
regardless of the face value of the mortgage.
Inspection of the table shows once more that the expected posi-
tive relation between cost of property and monthly mortgage pay-
ment is present. The coefficient of correlation is +57 per cent
but the correlation ratio of monthly mortgage payment on cost
of property in this case is 71 per cent. The difference between
the ratio and the coefficient becomes significant since the chance is
less than one in a thousand that a difference of 14 per cent could
be accidental. The regression is nonlinear or, in terms of the dis-
tribution of frequencies in the table, the monthly mortgage pay-
ments increase in proportion to increase in cost of property up to
a certain point, but beyond that point the mortgage payments in-
crease at a slower rate. This is an important result of the study.
For the families included in this study, within a limited income
group, it is shown that as the cost of a property gets into the
higher ranges included in the data, namely from $8,000 to $15,000,
the payments on principal of the mortgages are not increased
proportionately over the payments made by purchasers of lower-
priced houses; presumably too large a proportion of the family
income would be absorbed.
Income and Mortgage Costs
In spite of its many ramifications, this study centers around
the relation between family income and housing costs. Complete
information on housing costs apparently would require budget
studies carried out over a long period of time. Lacking such a
108 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
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110 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 111
period, we have centered on the largest single item of housing
cost — mortgage cost.
Table XXV gives the relation in the disturbed year 1930, of
mortgage costs to family income for 380 families living in single
houses who were making regular payments on the principal of
their mortgages. There is a slight tendency for mortgage pay-
ments to increase with increased income. The last column of the
table gives the average mortgage cost for each interval of family
income. Part of the variation in these averages arises from the
small number of frequencies in the particular row, but beyond this
there is a perceptible increase in average payments as the family
income increases.
Table XXVI gives the same data for single houses when the
mortgages are not amortized. The mortgage costs are, of course,
much lower, since they include only interest charges. There is,
again, a slight tendency for the mortgage payments to increase
with increases in income.
Tables giving similar data to the preceding ones were prepared
for two-family houses. The number of families was too small
to show much concentration of frequency although it appeared
that mortgage payments increased slightly with increased family
income.
The general conclusion from the preceding tables is that monthly
mortgage costs in 1930 increased very little with increased size
of family income. This conclusion appears to be applicable to
both single and two-family houses and to both amortized and
unamortized mortgages. To some extent this is an unexpected
result.11 Earlier in the report it has been shown that mortgage
n These conclusions seemed so startling that Mr. James S. Taylor has
made a careful review of the tables and of many of the original schedules
from which they were prepared. He observes that a special tabulation pre-
pared by Dr. Brumbaugh showed that the families having less than $1,250 in-
comes in 1930 had, on the average, incomes twice as large during the year
prior to home purchase. A considerable part of the families in the next income
group ranging from $1,250 to $1,749 likewise had substantially greater in-
comes during the year prior to purchase than in 1930. On the other hand, in
the income group from $2,750 to $4,750, incomes were substantially greater in
1930 than during the year prior to purchase. Among the intervening fami-
lies, which constitute a considerable majority of all those represented in
the table, a substantial number showed incomes either materially above or
below those reported for the year prior to purchase.
Thus, he concludes, the table on its face represents the situation in which
a representive group of families find themselves in the particular year 1930,
when many of them were affected by the economic upheaval. The individual
(Footnote continued on page 112)
112 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XXVII-a. Relationship of Cost of Property to Fam-
ily Income — Year Prior to Purchase — Single
Houses Purchased Since 1922.
Family income
(dollars)
Cost of property (dollars)
1,000-
1,999
2,000-
2,999
3,000-
3,999
4,000-
4,999
5,000-
5,999
6,000-
6,999
7,000-
7,999
0- 249
250- 749
750-1,249
1,250-1,749
1,750-2,249
2,250-2,749..
i
'i
2
1
1
1
'i
8
8
2
3
1
i
3
11
4
1
1
'9
27
53
29
10
1
1
1
1
5
20
42
33
14
1
1
'3
7
27
22
10
7
2
1
2,750-3,249
3,250-3,749
3,750-4,749
4,750-6,749
TOTAL
1
6
23
20
131
118
79
Family income
(dollars)
Cost of property (dollars)
Total
8,000-
8,999
9,000-
9,999
10,000-
10,999
11,000-
11,999
12,000-
15,999
0- 249..
250- 749
750-1,249
1,250-1,749
1,750-2,249
2,250-2,749
2 , 750-3 ,249
3 , 250-3 , 749 . .
'i
1
6
14
10
9
5
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3
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1
2
1
2
2
21
76
165
108
54
20
7
6
3,750-4,749
4,750-6,749
TOTAL . .
48
15
10
4
6
461
schedules showed many families committed to pay for mortgage costs from
40 to 70 per cent or more of their 1930 incomes. There is abundant reason
to suppose that, in most such cases, they did not deliberately plan to put
themselves in such a dilemma. Conversely, the schedules showed many
families living in good houses who, either because of large down payments,
or past instalment payments on the mortgage, had relatively small monthly
mortgage costs, and were, therefore, in an excellent position to meet cur-
tailed incomes in 1930, or to face the prospect of curtailed incomes in any
subsequent year.
(Footnote continued on page 113)
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
113
Table XXVII-b. Relationship of Cost of Property to Fam-
ily Income — Year Prior to Purchase — Single
Houses Purchased Since 1922.
Number of
cases
Range of cost
of property
(dollars)
Assumed
average cost
of property
(dollars)
Computed
median
income
(dollars)
Ratio of
property
cost to
income, year
prior to
purchase
6. .
1,000- 1,999
1,500
2,000
0.75
22
2,000- 2,999
2,500
1,750
1.43
62
3,000- 3,999
3,500
1,906
1.84
59
4 000- 4 999
4 500
2 023
2 22
169
5 000- 5 999
5 500
2 019
2 72
141
6 000- 6 999
6 500
2 131
3 05
87
7 000- 7 999
7 500
2 307
3 25
52
8,000- 8 999
8 500
2 350
3 62
16
9,000- 9,999
9 500
2 667
3 56
10. . .
10,000-10,999
10 500
2,583
4 07
4.
11,000-11,999
11,500
3,125
3 68
6
12,000-15,999
14,000
3,250
4 31
Ratio of
Number of
Range of
income
Assumed
median
Computed
median
cost of
median
property
cost and in-
cases
(dollars)
income
(dollars)
property
(dollars)
come, year
prior to
purchase
2. .
0- 249
125
6,000
48.00
2
250- 749
500
7,500
15.00
21
750- 1 249
1 000
5 833
5 83
76
1 250- 1 749
1 SOO
5 926
3 95
165
1 750- 2 249
2 000
6 202
3 10
108
2 250- 2 749
2 500
6 545
2 61
54
2,750- 3,249
3,000
6,857
2.28
20
3,250- 3 749
3 500
8 000
2 28
7
3,750- 4,749
4 250
7 750
1 82
6
4,750- 6,749
5,750
9,000
1.56
However, the schedules for a considerable number of families having sub-
stantially the same income in 1930 as during the year prior to purchase, do
indicate a considerable disparity in the proportion of income devoted to
monthly mortgage payments. But the different conditions of families with
respect to number of dependents, age, earning prospect and other variables,
go far to explain these differences and indicate the desirability of the more
detailed studies which could be made with a larger number of cases.
Mr. Taylor believes that the chief usefulness of Tables XXV and XXVI
is to serve as a challenge to preconceived ideas, and to point out the need for
further studies and analysis. — The Editors.
114 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
payments increase with increasing cost of the property.12 If fam-
ilies having larger incomes tend to purchase higher-priced houses,
then there should be a fairly high correlation between mortgage
costs and family income.
Since this proves not to be the case, inquiry must next be made
concerning the relation between family income and price paid for
properties. Inspection of Table XXVII, exhibiting this informa-
tion, shows that the results are in accord with what the prelim-
inary considerations had indicated. The correlation coefficient
between family income and property costs is +33 per cent which
does not demonstrate any marked association between these
factors. The tabulation of medians (Table XXVII-b) shows a
persistent tendency for the cost of the property to increase, al-
though not in direct proportion, with family income.
From the writer's point of view, the most plausible interpreta-
tion of these data is to be derived from viewing them as part of
a larger picture.
Characteristically, houses built for sale in and around large in-
dustrial cities during the period from 1922 to 1929 had at least 5
or 6 rooms, bathroom, many other modern improvements, and
usually a garage. Evidently families with children, desiring to
occupy a house and not being able or willing to pay for a new
house, chose to live in older structures.
It is not surprising to find that most of the houses reported in
the study were worth $5,000 or more at the time of purchase.
Combining these considerations, it appears that the center part
of Table XXVII-a, where the great bulk of cases are found, repre-
sents the lowest shelf of any size in that part of the home owner-
ship structure which has been developed since 1922. The real
contribution of the table seems to be to show that a number of
families of apparently small income were able to find a place in
the group and that a number of families with considerably higher
incomes decided to obtain houses from among those priced at from
$5,000 to $7,500.
Renewal Charges on First and Second Mortgages Related
to Type of Financing Agency
The information in this section applies entirely to properties
purchased in 1922 or later, as the years prior to 1922 are not com-
parable with regard to home financing agencies.
12 See Tables XXIII and XXIV.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
115
Table XXVIII. Types of Financing Agencies — Amortized
and Nonamortized First Mortgages — Homes
Purchased in 1922 or Later.
(610 Buffalo Properties.)
Type of financing
agency
Number
amortized
Number
non-
amortized
Total
Per cent
of
amortized
Per cent
of non-
amortized
Private individual*. . .
Savings bank
36
15
180
144
216
159
43
18
34
27
Commercial bank ....
Savings and loan as-
sociation
Finance company ....
Insurance company. . .
Other
2
11
9
10
24
25
90
62
2
26
36
99
72
2
3
13
11
12
5
5
17
12
TOTAL
83
527
610
100
100
* Includes builders.
Table XXVIII shows that 85 per cent of the first mortgages
written in 1922 or later are not being amortized; that private in-
dividuals are the most important holders of first mortgages, both
amortized and unamortized, followed by savings banks. The
private individuals are mainly builders, who often retain one or
both of the mortgages on the properties which they sell.
Private individuals, and also savings and loan associations, hold
a larger percentage of the amortized than of unamortized mort-
gages.
Table XXIX brings out the fact that 82 per cent of the second
mortgages are being amortized, as contrasted with 14 per cent of
the first mortgages. Once more the most important financing
source is private individuals who hold about 90 per cent of both
amortized and unamortized second mortgages. Only under ex-
ceptional circumstances are savings banks, commercial banks and
insurance companies permitted to invest in this kind of loan
(usually only when a part of the first mortgage is converted into
a second mortgage). The finance or mortgage companies are
virtually the only competitors of private individuals in the second
mortgage field.
116 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XXIX. Types of Financing Agencies — Amortized
and Nonamortized Second Mortgages — Homes
Purchased in 1922 or Later.
(402 Buffalo Properties.)
Type of financing
agency
Number
amortized
Number
non-
amortized
Total
Per cent
of
amortized
Per cent
of non-
amortized
Private individual*. . .
Savings bank . . .
298
1
62
2
360
3
90
87
Commercial bank. . . .
Savings and loan as-
sociation
4
6
2
4
6
10
1
2
3
6
Finance company ....
Insurance company. . .
Other
17
' ' 5
1
18
"5
5
'2
1
TOTAL
331
71
402
100
100
* Includes builders.
The cost of renewal of first mortgages on houses purchased by
the present owner in 1922 or later is presented in Table XXX.
The vertical distribution of the table according to type of financ-
ing agency permits comparisons of average renewal costs of the
different agencies. The table shows that renewal charges are
most frequent with finance companies and insurance companies,
while savings banks make renewal charges much less frequently.
In the right hand column of the table the average renewal charges
for each type of financing agency are presented. It should be
noted that these are the average charges on those mortgages which
had renewal charges. For example, the 145 mortgages held by
private individuals which were never renewed have been excluded
in computing the average charge of $37. The lowest average
charges are made by savings banks and private individuals. Apart
from the commercial banks and savings and loan associations for
which averages may have very little significance because of the
small number of cases, the highest average charges are made by
finance companies and insurance companies.
A similar compilation for second mortgages showed that such
mortgages are being amortized in 84 per cent of the cases. These
amortized mortgages, with rare exceptions, have no renewal
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
117
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Mortgage period
III
|
118 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
charges. Only 23 of the second mortgages had ever been renewed
and 17 of these involved no renewal charge.
The collecting agents reported that many home owners com-
plained of the difficulties which arose over the short-term mort-
gage. As shown in Table X, the first mortgage was written for
a short period in a larger percentage of the cases than the second
mortgage. First mortgages written in 1922 or later were accord-
ingly chosen for a special study of short-term mortgage condi-
tions. One-year, 3-year and 5-year mortgages were taken. Table
XXXI shows that no problem arises in connection with 1-year
mortgages, so they may be dismissed. Three- and 5-year mort-
gages have renewal charges in 48 per cent of the cases while
Table XXX shows that only 26 per cent of the mortgages of all
maturities have renewal charges. A further factor must be con-
sidered before these two percentages are accepted. All of these
mortgages were written in 1922 or later and many of those with
longer maturities have never been renewed, hence, no information
on renewal cost is available. It is even conceivable that over a
sufficient number of years nearly all of the long-time maturities
may involve renewal costs. The average renewal cost for those
mortgages which had renewal charges is $46 for 3-year mortgages
and $41 for 5-year mortgages while for mortgages of all matu-
rities, as shown in Table XXX, the charge is $51. The fact that
renewal every 3 years has a higher average cost than renewal every
5 years is very difficult to understand. The result of this in the
effective interest rates paid by the borrower is quite apparent.
The charges on either of these short maturities as compared with
the charges on all maturities make the effective interest rate
considerably higher. The difference in the interest rate between
paying $51 say once in 10 years and paying $46 every 3 years
scarcely requires comment. One extreme case was found in which
a financing agency required a 16 per cent renewal charge.
Income and Employment
Analysis of data shows that in the year prior to purchase, less
than 6 per cent of the families were reported as having income
outside of that of the principal breadwinner. For the year 1930,
19 per cent of the families reported such an addition. For each
year the average sum reported was in the neighborhood of $700.
Rent received from the rented portion of two-family houses was
considered as part of the breadwinner's income in most cases,
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 119
and therefore does not appear in the amount added. In rilling out
and editing the schedules, the entire earnings of adult children
usually were not included, and only an arbitrary sum, such as
$5.00 a week, was assumed to be board paid and was counted as
part of the family income. In 1930, 74 cases of 149, or 49.6
per cent, were augmenting an income of less than $1,250 from the
principal breadwinner.
The contrast in conditions between 1930 and the year prior to
home purchase apparently arises from two chief causes. First,
the industrial depression has caused declines in the principal bread-
winner's income in a great many cases. These declines are the
results of wage cuts, part-time employment, layoffs, or loss of
jobs. Secondly, the children of these families are now older than
at the time of home purchase and are in many cases ready to
become income producers, either by part-time work while they are
attending school or by full-time employment after completion of
school. The importance of this cause is shown by the fact that
of the 207 families buying houses built prior to 1922, 83, or ap-
proximately 40 per cent, reported extra income whereas, of the
582 families owning houses built in 1922 or later, only 65, or 11
per cent, reported extra income. The second cause has nothing
whatever to do with the depression. It would probably result in
increased auxiliary income in normal times as well as during a
depression.
In connection with Table XIV it is well to raise the question
of the minimum level at which purchase of a home is attempted.
Clearly, many other considerations enter into the decision to
purchase a home beyond the mere fact of possession of sufficient
funds to begin the purchase. We are, however, approaching the
question from the opposite angle. Without regard to the attend-
ant circumstances we may ask the question, "At what minimum
income level did the families in this study make the purchase?"
Eighty-four families purchased when, during the preceding year,
the principal breadwinner's income did not exceed $1,250. How-
ever, of 518 single houses purchased in 1922 or later (Table
XXXII), only 38 were purchased when the income of the prin-
cipal breadwinner was less than $1,250. In the neighborhood of
$1,250 there appears to have been a minimum income level at
which home purchase has been undertaken.
As a means of showing some of the hardships worked upon
home owners during a period of industrial depression, Table
120 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XXXII. Income of Principal Breadwinners Living
in Single Houses Purchased in 1922 or Later.
Incomes (dollars)
Number of familie
>
Year prior to home purchase
1930
0- 249 . .
3
13
250- 749
3
24
750-1,249
32
66
1,250-1,749
93
78
1,750-2,249
183
154
2 , 250-2 , 749
114
137
2 , 750-3 ,249
52
69
3,250-3,749
23
9
3,750-6,749
15
2
TOTAL
518
552
XXXII has been constructed. Some families were unable to give
any usable data on income during the year prior to home purchase,
so that the total families reporting for that year are fewer than
those recorded in the column for 1930. In 1930, there were
103 families with the principal breadwinner's income below $1,250.
As further evidence on the question of employment, Tables
XXXIII and XXXIV are presented. The number of weeks em-
ployed during the year prior to home purchase and during 1930
is given in intervals of 5 weeks for the principal breadwinner of
all families in the study who purchased their homes in 1922 or
later. The total column at the right of each table shows the num-
ber of principal breadwinners in each occupational group. The
last column of each table shows the average number of weeks
worked during the year by each occupational group. Employment
was essentially at full time for all groups during the year prior to
home purchase. Specifically, only 5 per cent of the group were
employed less than 40 weeks. Another 10 per cent worked from
40 to 48 weeks, but a part of these did not consider themselves as
unemployed since their work was seasonal in character. The re-
maining 85 per cent of the group were employed full time.
In 1930, 22 per cent of the group were employed less than 40
weeks during the year. Another 13 per cent were employed be-
tween 40 and 48 weeks while only 65 per cent were employed full
time. The burden of unemployment has fallen most severely on
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY
121
Table XXXIII. Occupation of Principal Breadwinner and
Number of Weeks Employed — Year prior to Purchase
of Home — Home Purchased in 1922 or Later.
(605 Buffalo Families.)
Occupation
i Weeks employed
Average
number
of weeks
employed
0
13-17
18-22
23-27
28-32
33-37
38-42
43-47
48-52
Total
Public work
Professional
'i
2
'?
'2
1
3
2
1
4
1
1
1
23
3
6
"2
15
4
4
35
21
59
95
229
43
31
39
23
64
100
284
53
42
49
49
49
49
48
48
48
Proprietary
Clerical
i
1
1
'4
Skilled
1
Semi-skilled
Unskilled
TOTAL
1
i
3
4
10
9
39
25
513
605
Table XXXIV. Occupation of Principal Breadwinner and
Number of Weeks Employed in 1930 — Home
Purchased in 1922 or Later.
(602 Buffalo Families.)
Occupation
Weeks employed
Average
number
of weeks
employed
0
8-12
13-17
18-22
23-27
28-32
33-37
38-42
43-47
48-52
Total
Public work
4
1
4
5
30
6
5
'i
4
13
8
35
20
45
82
176
26
24
39
24
60
97
280
57
45
49
47
44
48
43
42
39
Professional . . .
Proprietary. . .
Clerical
'i
2
•i
1
'3
10
'3
"2
3
9
4
3
2
3
17
5
6
is
6
1
Skilled
Semi-skilled . . .
Unskilled
TOTAL
i
'3
5
6
9
3
1
5
17
21
33
23
55
26
408
602
the manual workers and the proprietary group. Another measure
of unemployment which may be gotten from these tables is the
ratio of full-time employment during 1930 to full-time employment
during the year prior to home purchase. This is shown in Table
XXXV.
The question has been raised earlier as to how far increases in
age may be accompanied by increases in income. For a static
comparison, a tabulation of the breadwinner's income according to
age was made. This showed both for a group of 382 manual
workers — skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled — and a group of 187
mental workers engaged in public work, professional, proprietary
and clerical occupations, that there was no perceptible tendency
for incomes to be higher among the older-age groups. Owing to
122 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XXXV. Ratio of Full-Time Employment during 1930
to Full-Time Employment during the Year
Prior to Home Purchase.
Occupational group
Ratio
Public work
1.00
Professional
.95
Proprietary
Clerical
.76
.86
Skilled workers
.77
Semi-skilled workers
.60
Unskilled workers
.77
the limited sample, this tendency cannot be taken as general for
all heads of families in the population.
For a dynamic comparison a similar tabulation was made for
1930, and compared with the preceding one. As has previously
been pointed out, average income between the time of purchase
of the home and 1930 decreased as a function of the industrial
depression, and no positive results could be obtained from this
analysis.
VIII. Miscellaneous Relationships
No significant relationship was found between the number of
members of the family and the number of rooms in the house, the
average number of rooms per family ranging from 6.5 to 7.0 for
each size of family ranging from 2 to 9 members.
Data obtained in the studies developed the fact that 537, or 90
per cent of the 597 houses built since 1930, were sold during the
same year in which they were constructed, while another 8 per cent
remain unsold for only one year.
IX. Summary
Family Income and Mortgage Costs
Tables XXV, XXVI, XXVII-a, and XXVII-b exhibiting the in-
formation on the relation of family income to mortgage payments,
are the central result of this study. The important fact is that in
1930 mortgage costs among these low-income families (it must be
remembered that no incomes in excess of $3,000 were included)
have little, if any consistent proportion to family income in that
year. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics' study of cost
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 123
of living made in 1918 showed for Buffalo an increase in annual
amount paid for rent from $150 to $270 as income increased up
to $2,500. In this study, only families who were living in rented
homes were included, but the amount of rent paid increased as
the family income increased. The present study aimed to inves-
tigate conditions of families with the same general income range,
but living in owned homes rather than rented and, of course, after
the lapse of 12 years. It seems strange then that no consistent rela-
tion should be found between mortgage costs and income. To
avoid concealed noncomparability, the data were subdivided in
two directions:
1. Single houses and two-family houses are quite obviously not comparable
in a study of mortgage costs ; the two were accordingly tabulated separately.
2. Amortized and unamortized mortgages cannot be compared since the
cost of the former includes both periodic interest payments and payments
on principal, whereas the latter covers only interest charges.
In none of the tables resulting from this subdivision of the data
was there any evidence of a persistent tendency for mortgage costs
to change with income. This result was so much at variance with
the reasonable expectation that a study of the original schedules
was resorted to. They show that, when mortgages are unamor-
tized, down payments are frequently fairly large so that the pur-
chaser's equity is enough to justify lenders in carrying mortgages
on an unamortized basis. In other cases, the second mortgage orig-
inally carried on the property has been discharged and here, also,
the purchaser's equity is large enough to warrant lenders carrying
the remaining mortgage on an unamortized basis. Neither of the
above cases gave any evidence of progression in mortgage pay-
ments with increasing income. There remains under the head of
unamortized mortgages those cases in which the down payment
was small and no subsequent increase had been made in the pur-
chaser's equity. They, likewise, show no relation between mort-
gage payments and income.13
With scattered exceptions, the properties on which the mort-
gages were amortized had small down payments so that the mort-
gage payments represent interest on mortgages covering a large
part of the purchase price and an amount for amortization which
presumably would be adjusted to the purchaser's ability to pay.
"For suggested limitations on these conclusions, see footnote 11, p. 111.
124 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
It follows that these mortgage payments should increase with in-
creasing income, if the families having large incomes live in higher-
priced homes. Such a relation was even less apparent from study
of the individual schedules than it was from Tables XXV to
XXVII-b.14
Again, it must be repeated that this study deals only with low-
income families, and it may well be that for this group such ele-
ments as the relatively large proportional variations concomitant
with small, absolute variations in expenditure, together with the
effect of such imponderables as the special psychological factors
involved in home purchase by families of modest means, may serve
to upset the normally expected correlation between income and
housing cost.
Mortgage Cost as a Percentage of Income
The second major result is the amount and percentage of family
income which is absorbed in mortgage payments. Following the
same subdivision as was employed in the preceding paragraphs, the
results are summarized in the table below :
Type of
house
Number
of houses
Mortgage
conditions
Average an-
nual mort-
gage cost
(dollars)
Average an-
nual family
income
(dollars)
Average mortgage
cost expressed in per-
centage of average
income
Single
Single ....
381
254
Amortized ....
Nonamortized
504
216
2,032
2,023
25
11
Two-family...
Two-family. . .
82
58
Amortized ....
Nonamortized
576
324
2,271
1,966
25
16
About 25 per cent of income is required for mortgage payments
on amortized mortgages and considerably less when mortgages are
not amortized. The results for two-family houses are scarcely
trustworthy because of the small number of cases considered. In
connection with this result the question of taxes was raised. In-
vestigation showed that the city and county tax rate combined for
the year 1930 was $33.22 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Usually, the tax bill of the owner of a single-family house included
in this study would range between $175 and $225. The tax on
two-family houses would, of course, be somewhat higher. In this
supplementary computation, average taxes applied to average in-
come showed that 9 per cent of income was applied to payment of
property taxes. This would mean that for the home owners in this
study, having both interest and amortization payments to meet, the
"For suggested limitations on these conclusions, see footnote 11, p. 111.
THE BUFFALO HOME OWNERSHIP STUDY 125
combined yearly charges for financing and taxation amount to 34
per cent of the average family income.
Purchase Price of Property and Mortgage Costs
For all of the properties purchased since 1922, the amount of the
first mortgage represents a little more than 50 per cent of the pur-
chase price, and the down payment and second mortgage each rep-
resents about 25 per cent of the purchase price. The cash pay-
ment is usually a larger percentage of the cost of higher-priced
properties and the second mortgage is usually a lower percentage.
The first mortgage remains about the same percentage of cost from
the lowest-priced to the highest-priced properties. For all of the
properties combined, the average amount of mortgage was 77 per
cent and the home owner's equity 23 per cent of the purchase price.
Average monthly mortgage costs are $53 when both mortgages
are amortized, $45 when one mortgage is amortized, and $27 when
neither mortgage is being amortized. From these figures it is seen
that when one mortgage is amortized the increase over interest pay-
ments is about 67 per cent, but when both mortgages are amortized
the additional increase is only some 33 per cent. This suggests
that there is an upper limit to the demands which can be made
upon home owners in the income group covered from month to
month for amortization of mortgages. Further investigation on
this point leads to the conclusion that, when mortgages are being
amortized, there is a direct relation between mortgage costs and
cost of house up to a certain point, but for higher-priced houses
the increase in mortgage costs does not keep pace.
Types of Financing Agency
Private individuals, including builders, are the most important
holders of first mortgages both amortized and unamortized, fol-
lowed by savings banks, finance companies, insurance companies,
and savings and loan associations, in the order named. The small
number of mortgages held by savings and loan associations arises
from the fact that these associations usually require amortization
of loans, while the first mortgages on the properties of this study
are for the most part not being amortized. The second mortgages
on these properties are almost entirely in the hands of private indi-
viduals. They carry some 90 per cent of both amortized and un-
amortized mortgages.
CHAPTER VI
A CASE STUDY OF TEN HOME PURCHASING
FAMILIES IN THE BUFFALO AREA1
I. Introductory
As a supplement to the statistical data secured in the Buffalo
home ownership study, a series of special case studies was made
of ten typical families included within the larger study. The pur-
pose of this supplementary study was to attempt to secure through
informal interviews, some insight into the actual relation to the
family economy of the effort involved in purchasing a home.
In each case, the interviewer visited a family with which he had
made a contact during the home ownership study (covered by
Chapter V), and proceeded on the basis of friendly informality,
which this contact had established. Each family was visited dur-
ing the evening or at some other time when both the husband and
wife were present, and they were interviewed for a period rang-
ing from one hour to four hours. The interviewer made certain
entries upon a specially prepared schedule and supplemented it by
further notations made immediately after the conclusion of the
interview. An effort was made in particular to elicit, by means
of a rough approximation of the family's annual budget, a state-
ment of the ways in which the budgets have been adjusted to the
various vicissitudes of family life so as to permit the family to
continue with its home purchasing plans, and also to secure an
account of the special advantages or disadvantages which aided or
hindered these efforts.
The persons interviewed were asked to give only an approxima-
tion of their average annual expenditures, so that there is no exact
correspondence between the budgets as reported and the income
for the year tabulated. During the present year, in particular, a
number of families show incomes below their normal budgets, on
account of loss of employment. This fact, together with the small
number of cases represented, renders the percentage figures of only
very limited significance. The interviews have, however, consid-
erable interest in themselves. More than this, one or two general
1 Prepared by Dr. Niles Carpenter, Chairman of the Committee on Rela-
tionship of Income and the Home, with the assistance of Mr. Thomas Neill
of the University of Buffalo.
126
CASE STUDY OF TEN BUFFALO HOME BUYING FAMILIES 127
tendencies are revealed throughout all of them, which are very
suggestive.
II. Case Summaries 2
A brief summary of the interviews with each of the ten families
follows :
Family Number 1006
This family shows an estimated budget of about $200 in excess
of actual income. It reports that it expects to "get by" by simply
ceasing to make any considerable purchase for clothing, furniture
and furnishings and for health, insurance, recreation and other
"miscellaneous" items. For the past 3 years the family has enjoyed
good health and has had to spend little for doctor's bills and hos-
pital bills. It is obvious that if sickness, further curtailment of
income or any other vicissitudes strike this family, it will have a
very difficult time maintaining itself. The amount expended for
life and accident insurance ($45 or 2 per cent) is also very low,
particularly for a family with a small child.
The small sum expended for upkeep and repairs, namely, $25
or 1 per cent, is accounted for, in part, by the fact that the father
does all this work himself.
Family Number 1005
This family represents the considerable number of those home
buyers, who have "started on a shoestring." The down payment
on this home costing $5,900 amounted to $50 and as a consequence
the carrying charges are heavy, when the value of the house is
taken into account. The father does his own work on upkeep and
keeps the cost down that way. The expenditures for furniture and
furnishings amount to only $20, or 1 per cent per year, which is
the lowest for the entire group included in the study.
This family has encountered two vicissitudes that have impaired
its financial stability. In 1929 the birth of a child increased med-
ical expenditures and forced the family to curtail drastically the
expenditures for furniture and clothing. Again, in 1931, the
father lost his position and is now earning only about $20 per
week. He was unable to meet the terms of his original financing
agreement, but was permitted to make a new arrangement by
which both the first and second mortgages were given unlimited
2 See tabulated summary, pp. 132-33.
128 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
terms, payments on principal being optional. The apparent gen-
erosity of the lending agencies is probably accountable, in part, to
the fact that the depression of real estate values, together with the
small equity built up by the purchaser, would make a foreclosure
of dubious value to the lenders.
Family Number 1025
This family consists of two young married people who were so
fortunate as to be given $3,500 as a wedding present, which was
used for a down payment on their new home. They were conse-
quently able to secure a relatively high-priced house without incur-
ring particularly heavy carrying charges.
It is interesting to observe that the total cost of upkeep, repairs
and improvements is $85, or about 4 per cent, which is fairly high
for this group of families. The fact that the father is a clerk and
is probably not so "handy" as many of the other householders in-
cluded in this study, may account for this fact. The item for fur-
niture and furnishings is, however, low, amounting to only $25.
This family is one of the two in the ten studied which budgets any
money for savings and investments aside from that put into the
house. In this case the quota amounts to $200 per year or about
10 per cent.
Family Number 1027
Like the preceding family, family number 1027 was able to make
a substantial initial payment on its home, this payment amounting
to $2,000 out of a total selling price of $5,700. This sum came
from previous savings. It should be observed that the father
works for a large corporation and has enjoyed steady employment
for a considerable period. He spends only $15 per year on upkeep,
and nothing at all on repairs and improvements. Being a me-
chanic, he is able to do virtually all of the work that is required
for these purposes. This family, like the one next previously de-
scribed, also makes a substantial saving in addition to the money
invested in the home, these savings amounting to $200 per year or
about 9 per cent.
Family Number 1035
This is the second of the ten families studied which has financed
the purchase of its home with the aid of a "windfall." It obtained
the funds for making the initial payment on its home through an
inheritance, which amounted to $1,000. Nevertheless, it should be
CASE STUDY OF TEN BUFFALO HOME BUYING FAMILIES 129
observed that, in common with most of the families included in
this series, it budgets nothing for savings and investments outside
of what is put into the house. Over $500 per year is, however,
devoted to life and accident insurance, which is far in excess of the
amount of this item in any other family. The expenditures for
upkeep, repairs and improvements are fairly high, amounting to
$105 per annum. Even so, the father utilizes his summer vacation
to do painting and paperhanging and the like.
Family Number 4113
This family has been engaged in purchasing its home since 1918
and, there having occurred no particular vicissitudes, either as to
unemployment or sickness, it has been able to carry on with its
financing without any great hardship. It should be observed,
however, that the original selling price of the house, namely,
$3,500, is not high. Also, the family enjoys the advantage of hav-
ing an unlimited first mortgage upon the principal of which pay-
ments are made optionally. The clothing budget is small as com-
pared with the other families, but this fact is largely explained by
the fact that the wife is skilful with the needle and makes most of
her own and the small niece's clothing. Expenditures for upkeep
amount to $20 per year ; those for repairs and improvements are nil.
Family Number 1415
This case is one of the most interesting of those included in the
study. The original selling price of the house was only $1,050, the
house when purchased being merely a 3-room frame affair without
a cellar. The year following the purchase of the house, expendi-
tures were reduced to absolute necessities, and $300 put into the
house. The third, fourth and fifth years following the purchase,
approximately $100 a year had to be spent on medical expenses
for the daughter. Nevertheless, during this time a garage was
built at an outlay of $100. During the sixth year, the house was
completely remodeled and the basement was built, the total cost
being $1,700. In the seventh year, screens and storm windows
were added. In the eighth year, the family had begun to settle
down to "normal," but in the ninth year an illness of the wife and
an operation following it entailed an outlay of $450 and forced the
budget to be reduced once more to bare necessities. During the
current year, no vicissitudes have been encountered, and the family
considers that it is getting along fairly well.
130 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AJTD TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The father supplements the income bf making Christmas tree
ornaments at home, his wife helping him. He also paints lip
neighbors' houses. More than this, he has, himself, done practically
all the work on remodeling and maintaining lift own home. It is
interesting to observe that the father gave as die main satisfa
derived from owning his home, "family freedom.'* Assuredly here
is a family which has a very strongly developed sense 01 iiiiilnilj
and which has made literally herculean efforts to acquire and keep
its home.
Family Number 4121
This family was able to make a $2,500 first payment on a £4,000
house, the source of the payment being previous i •••••£• In this
connection, note may be made of the fact that the father, being a
government employee, is able to enjoy a steadier employment than
do most low-income families. Expenditures for furniture and
furnishings are relatively high, amounting to $100 per year, but
this family, like the one next previously described, has been prac-
tically building its home as it has gone along, so that expenditures
for these items have been heavy. During the eight years that have
elapsed since the house was purchased, interior partitions have been
built and plastered ; plumbing has been installed, and the bathroom
fitted up ; a porch has been added and a coal cellar excavated under
the porch. In addition, during the third year, medical bills of $175
have had to be met. The father has done virtually all the work
involved in altering and maintaining his home. The daughter is
preparing for a musical career, and over $500 per year is being
spent for her music lessons.
Family Number 1026
The house was purchased in 1928 with a first payment of $600,
which was derived from savings. During the first year a son was
born. Also, a pavement tax of $50 running over a period of 3
years was added to the expenses that had to be anticipated. These
two burdens placed a considerable strain upon the family and
forced its members to pare their expenditures to an absolute min-
imum. The father is employed in a wholesale house and is able to
purchase much of the material required for repairs and upkeep
from this concern. Moreover, he does all the work involved in
these items himself. Consequently, he is able to hold down his
expenditures for these two purposes to the low sum of $20 per
year.
CASE STUDY OF TEN BUFFALO HOME BUYING FAMILIES 131
Family Number 1010
The most noteworthy feature of this family's budgetary scheme
is the slight excess which it shows of expenditures over income.
This excess is not large, but is probably sufficient to reduce the
family to something approaching the psychological situation im-
mortalized by Dickens in David Copperfield — "Annual income,
twenty pounds — annual expenditure, nineteen, nineteen six — re-
sult, happiness : Annual income, twenty pounds — annual expendi-
ture, twenty pounds, ought and six — result, misery." The almost
infinitesimal amount of money expended on recreation and books
and magazines is also deserving of particular attention. The father
of this family does all his own painting and decorating, and calcu-
lates that he saves about $60 a year by so doing.
III. Summary and Interpretation
The outstanding impression derived from consideration of these
case studies is that many of these families appear to have been
especially advantaged in comparison with other families within the
same income class. In the majority of them, the chief breadwin-
ner, himself, has been able to do most of the work involved in the
maintenance and repair of his home, because of his special skill,
ability to purchase materials advantageously, or by reason of leisure
time. In some cases he has even undertaken major remodeling or
building.
In some cases the family has been the recipient of a "windfall"
in the form of a legacy or a gift which has been applied to the
home purchase. In certain other cases the chief breadwinner has
enjoyed greater security of occupational tenure than is the case
among ordinary wage earners.
In sum, one is probably not justified in concluding that such suc-
cess as these families have achieved in the venture of home owner-
ship is accessible to families of moderate incomes in general. One
is rather led to the inference that their success is in some measure
due to the special advantages they have enjoyed.
A second generalization suggested by the case analysis is that
certain families are able to go on in their home purchasing enter-
prise in spite of very serious vicissitudes such as unemployment,
sickness, unforeseen tax payments and the like. This generaliza-
tion dovetails with the one suggested by the Buffalo home owner-
ship study, namely, that many home buying families restrict ex-
penditures for individualistic purchases and concentrate their eco-
132 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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CASE STUDY OF TEN BUFFALO HOME BUYING FAMILIES 133
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134 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
nomic efforts upon the home and upon the interests centering in
the home, as represented by house furnishings and equipment. In
other words, the family that launches upon the purchase of a home
would seem to be one which had a sense of solidarity so strongly
developed as to enable its several members to forego the indulgence
of their individual needs and wants for the sake of the joint satis-
factions attendant upon the acquisition and furnishings of a home.
Here again, one is led to question whether such families as these
are typical of American householders in general. Nevertheless,
whether they are or not, it may be possible to increase their number
and, thereby, to increase the number of home purchasers, by such
forms of public education as will strengthen the attitudes of loyalty
and pride in the home and the family. A further point might be
made, namely, that those families equipped with more than the
usual degree of perseverance and strength of character have the
advantage in the adventure of home purchase although such per-
sonality factors as these must necessarily escape the processes of
statistical tabulation.
A fourth point suggested by this case analysis of ten Buffalo
families is that some of them are seriously underbudgeting certain
expenditure items. This observation applies in particular to sav-
ings and investments other than insurance and the purchase of the
home. Others are virtually ignored in all but one or two families
studied. In this connection attention should also be directed to
the fact that the Buffalo home ownership study found that the
majority of families included in its purview had decreased their
outlays for other savings and investments. While the house, in
itself, is an investment, it lacks such features as liquidity and
ready salability. Moreover, since its purchase is ordinarily
financed by means of mortgages, it is of little value as a source of
other short-time loans. Consequently, the family which makes no
provision for savings and investments other than that represented
by its home is in danger of meeting serious financial embarrass-
ment in time of sudden stress. Insurance can, of course, be bor-
rowed upon, but only at the risk of impairing or even of entirely
wiping out the bulk of the family's security against the death of its
chief breadwinner. In short, this study suggests that, when the
whole range of the family's expenditures is taken into account,
the effort to purchase a home on the part of some families may not,
under present conditions, be well advised.
CHAPTER VII *
PROPORTION OF HOMES OWNED AND
RENTED BY VALUATION CLASSES
IN 1930
Federal census data which have become available since the orig-
inal report was written, are of considerable interest in connection
with the variations shown in the distribution of the proportions
owned and rented in the various valuation or rental classes
of homes. The information now available provides a sample for
different parts of the country, although it is necessary to combine
the rental and value groups on the basis of an estimated relation-
ship. In the discussion which follows, the combination was made
on the basis of a relationship in which the annual rental is equal
to 10 per cent of the value of the dwelling. In adjusting data on
this basis, it should be realized that this relationship may vary
from place to place and that it may fluctuate considerably from
one period of the business cycle to another.
Referring to Table I, which presents the ownership and rental
situation in ten representative cities of the country, it will be noted
that there is a wide variation in the proportions in the different
value or rental classes from one city to another. In Milwaukee,
about 4.4 per cent of the families live in dwellings valued under
$2,000, while in Birmingham, 38.2 per cent of the families live in
dwellings worth less than $2,000. At the other end of the value
range, we find that in Washington, D. C, 21.8 per cent of the
families live in homes worth more than $10,000, while in Salt Lake
City, only 4.2 per cent live in homes valued at this figure or above.
The corresponding conditions at the opposite ends of the value
range for the cities mentioned are presented in the following table :
City
Value or rental equiva-
lent under $2,000, ex-
pressed in percentage
Value or rental equiva-
lent over $10,000, ex-
pressed in percentage
Milwaukee
3 3
9 2
Birmingham
38 2
5 9
Washington •
3 9
21 8
Salt Lake City
14.5
4.2
1 Prepared under the direction of Mr. James S. Taylor, Chief of the Divi-
sion of Building and Housing, U. S. Department of Commerce.
135
136 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
It will be noted in the above data taken from Table I that Bir-
mingham, while it has the greatest percentage under $2,000, has
a relatively small proportion of homes valued above $10,000.
Washington has a high proportion over $10,000 and a relatively
low proportion under $2,000. Milwaukee and Salt Lake City,
however, show a much smaller variation.
The percentage of ownership in the cities presented in Table I
varies from a low of 29.3 per cent in Atlanta to 50.0 per cent in
Salt Lake City. It will be noted in Table I that the percentage of
ownership is the lowest in the low-value and low-rental classes in
the eastern industrial cities.
A universal tendency is indicated in Table I for the proportion
of ownership to increase as the value of the dwelling increases.
The percentages of ownership tend to be higher in the higher-value
groups, in all of the cities presented. It will also be noted that
while the tendency is for the percentages owned to increase with
the increasing value, nevertheless, with few exceptions, the lowest-
value or -rental class has a higher proportion of ownership than
those immediately above it. However, in all of the cities in the
table, the importance of this lowest class is small and in a number
of them it is negligible.
Table II presents the proportion of urban and rural nonfarm
homes by ownership and rental classes and proportions owned for
seven states. While there is a wide variation in the proportions in
the different value or rental classes, there is a definite indication
that relatively larger proportions of rural families live in the lower-
valued homes than is the case in the cities. Value, of course, may
not be an accurate index of the comparative qualities of urban and
rural homes. The proportion of families living in homes worth less
than $1,000 varies in Table II from 1.1 per cent in urban Con-
necticut to 50.8 per cent in rural Georgia. The number of urban
families living in houses worth under $2,000 varies from 7.7 per
cent in Connecticut to 49.8 per cent in Georgia. The number of
urban families living in houses worth more than $10,000 varies
from 3.6 per cent in New Hampshire and Arkansas to 13.7 per
cent in Connecticut. The proportion of rural nonfarm families
living in houses worth less than $2,000 varies from 19.0 per cent
in Connecticut to 78.3 per cent in Arkansas, while the proportion
of rural nonfarm families living in houses valued at over $10,000
varies from 13.4 per cent in Connecticut to 0.6 per cent in Ar-
PROPORTION OF HOMES OWNED AND RENTED
137
kansas. Summary figures at both extremes of the value range for
the states just mentioned are presented below :
Environment
and State
Value or rental equiva-
lent under $2,000
Value or rental equiva-
lent over $10,000
Urban:
Connecticut
Georgia
7.7%
49.8%
13.7%
4.2%
Arkansas
42.8%
3.6%
New Hampshire
Rural nonfarm:
Connecticut
Arkansas
22.7%
19.0%
78 3%
3.6%
13.4%
0 6%
In the above data taken from Table II, it will be noted that the
variations in some states are much greater than in others.
The percentage of ownership as presented in Table II shows
relatively wide variations from one area to another and from one
value class to another. In most cases, the percentages of owner-
DISTRIBUTION OF HOMES BY OWNERSHIP
AND RENTAL GROUPSH930
OHIO RURAL NONFARM
PER PER CENT
CENTO 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
100
CITY OF CLEVELAND
pER PER CENT
CENT 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
100
THOUSANDS OF HOMES
VMS/A RENTED
V////////A OWNED
50 100 150 200
THOUSANDS OF HOMES
A.-UNDER $8.33
B.-$8.33-$l2.49
C.-$I2.50-$I6.66
D.-UNDER $1.000
E.-$I.OOO-$I,499
F, -$1.500- $1,999
138 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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PROPORTION OF HOMES OWNED AND RENTED 139
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140 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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PROPORTION OF HOMES OWNED AND RENTED 141
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142 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
ship of rural nonfarm homes is higher than the percentages of
urban homes owned. Of the seven states presented, Iowa has the
highest proportion of ownership of urban homes (54.8 per cent),
while Georgia has the lowest (30.1 per cent). Ohio has the highest
proportion of rural nonfarm homes owned (64.0 per cent), while
Georgia has the lowest (36.2 per cent). The sample presented in
Table II indicates that the tendency for lower-valued houses to
be rented rather than owned, is much stronger in the eastern indus-
trial states than in other parts of the country.
A comparison of the conditions in the City of Cleveland with
that of the situation in the State of Ohio as a whole is made in
the chart on page 137. Approximately 82 percent of the rural
nonfarm homes (including villages of 2,500 population and under)
in Ohio are valued at under $5,000, while in the City of Cleve-
land 50 per cent are valued under this figure. In the City of
Cleveland about 5 per cent of the homes are valued at under
$2,000, while about 44 per cent of the rural nonfarm homes are
valued at under this figure. The chart clearly shows a much
higher proportion of ownership in all of the rural nonfarm groups
as compared with the corresponding Cleveland group. This dif-
ference is especially marked in the lower-value and -rental groups.
APPENDIX
SUPPLEMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS ON
RECONDITIONING, REMODELING
' AND MODERNIZING1
1. Carrying out of needed and practicable reconditioning, re-
modeling and modernizing should be done to preserve or increase
sale and loan values through prevention of depreciation or obso-
lescence and through improvements also, where these can be made,
and moreover to provide a larger supply of safe and sanitary
dwellings to meet the needs of the moderate-income groups not now
served by new houses.
2. Intelligent and economical methods in such work should be
developed. There should be well-advised appraisal of the home,
grounds and neighborhood and study of future trends to deter-
mine whether and to what degree extensive and permanent work
is justified. Plans should be based not on superficial and unde-
sirable standards resulting from high pressure salesmanship and
advertising or due to some passing fashion of which the occupants
of the house will quickly tire, but on standards of real value to
family life and on adequate information of good methods in re-
conditioning, remodeling and modernizing. Making the home a
source of permanent pride and pleasure and a recreational center
for the family, can reduce expenditures for recreation in other
directions. Introduction of labor-saving features can sometimes
reduce the cost of household service or cost of medical care for
the overtaxed homemaker.
There should be systematic, frequent and careful inspection in
order to do needed work before damage to property, person or
health may occur, and to plan work for times when it can be done
with least expense and inconvenience. There should also be care-
ful estimate of the cost of the needed work, of the probable future
income of the family, and the proportion of this income which may
wisely be devoted to the undertaking. There should be judicious,
safe, financial arrangements for work in all houses, new and old.
Discouragement of home buying should be avoided through pro-
spective home owners securing information as to probable cost of
1 Prepared by Miss Emily W. Dinwiddie, a member of the committee.
143
144 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
upkeep that they may not undertake more than they can handle.2
The man who attempts to buy a home and fails, or finds the ar-
rangement hopelessly unsatisfactory, is a potent influence in keep-
ing others from home ownership.3
It should be borne in mind that the cost of upkeep depends upon
the type of dwelling including quality of materials and construc-
tion and upon the locality as well as on the time allowed to pass
before repairs are made and on whether or not some of the work
is done by the owner himself.
Home owners and prospective owners should inform themselves
as to what public improvements are likely to be made in the future,
the cost of which may be assessed against their property and which
will be an expense that must be met in return for values in bringing
the home or neighborhood up to modern standards.
Possibilities of use of free time during unemployment periods
for improvement of homes by their occupants should be borne in
mind.
3. Unwise reconditioning, remodeling and modernizing and in-
judicious financial arrangements for the work should be discour-
aged.
4. Popular e'ducation is needed as to proper financing of and as
to standards and methods of work in reconditioning, remodeling
and modernizing. It would be desirable to enlist the aid of every
interested agency in educational services to families and communi-
ties in relation to such matters. Setting up information centers
where possible would be helpful.*
* A rough estimate commonly made is approximately 2 per cent for recon-
ditioning that the house may be kept in good repair and renovation and in
order to keep up the status as to sale and loan values. Preferably more
should be allowed, if practicable, to make improvements to keep up with
rising standards.
8 Such agencies as the Philadelphia Housing Association, The Housing
Committee of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities and many others have a
considerable amount of data as to the discouraged home owner.
*This is recommended by the Committee on Home Information Centers.
See "Homemaking, Home Furnishing and Information Services," Publica-
tions of the President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership,
Washington, 1932, Vol. X, Pt. III.
PART III
CHAPTER VIII
TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The purpose of this study has been to evaluate the different
types of dwellings, giving the advantages and the disadvantages of
each type, and to indicate, as definitely as it can, sound policy for
a community house building program designed to meet the varying
needs of different groups in the population.
Effects of Unregulated Building
During the long period of rapid population growth preceding
the World War, provision of housing was left almost entirely to
the enterprise of private builders whose motive was profit. This
enterprise was very little guided or restrained by law or regula-
tions designed to protect the public interest, the interest of occu-
pants of the dwellings, or even the interest of future owners of
the dwellings. In rural areas and villages there was practically no
regulation. In most of the cities there were building codes that
reduced the danger of collapse and the hazard from fire. In some
cities housing codes gave a measure of protection to the health
and safety of occupants. But modern city planning was in its
infancy and zoning was just beginning to be discussed. Inevitably
there were abuses. Blighted areas and slums were commonplace.
There was an almost universal tendency, even in the smaller urban
communities, toward greater and greater land occupancy until it
became land overcrowding — the basic evil in bad housing. Fol-
lowing land overcrowding, increasing the ill effects of the land
overcrowding, came the construction of multiple dwellings whose
builders saw profit in terms of increased population density.
A New Era
Since the World War there has been a significant change. Today
it is possible, as it was not in the past, for a community to guide
and regulate its house building. Today public interest and private
interest, sound social policy and sound economic policy more evi-
dently run together. The decreased rate of population growth has
decreased the pressure on the land. At the same time city plan-
145
146 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
ning, the distribution of centers of employment, the rapid exten-
sion of hard surfaced highways, and the increased use of automo-
biles have very greatly extended the amount of land available for
housing purposes. Overcrowding no longer pays as it did. Mean-
while zoning regulation has become accepted.1 New areas can
now be protected against the shortsighted exploiter. So, if we
know what we should do with our building program, we are in an
unprecedentedly good position to do it.
There has been some confusion, however, as to what we should
do. In considerable degree this confusion has been due to mis-
understanding of terms. The Committee on Types of Dwellings,
therefore, began by defining the various types as a prelude to
evaluating them. In order that this part of its work might be of
greater value, it at once sent its classifications and definitions to
the other committees. For it was essential, if the Conference com-
mittees were to reach mutually understandable conclusions, that all
the committees should give the same meanings to certain words.
Most important for this purpose are the words denoting the dif-
ferent types of dwellings.
Classification and Definition
The Committee on Types of Dwellings faced a double difficulty :
First, there seemed to be several possible bases for classification,
including economic, structural, architectural ; second, the same de-
scriptive words often have different meanings in different parts of
the country. If one takes account of detail differences, the num-
ber of forms our dwellings have assumed is infinite. This is espe-
cially true in respect to modern multiple dwellings which range all
the way from the solid ranks of row or lot-line buildings familiar
in the older sections of our eastern cities, to widespread "garden
apartment houses." Again, if one takes account of makeshift uses
to which dwellings have been put, as the converted tenement that
was once a one- family dwelling, the number of forms becomes
large.
But the committee was not drafting a law that must cover every
possible modification ; it was simply seeking to present, as the basis
1 See "Planning for Residential Districts," Publications of the President's
Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washington, 1932,
Vol. I, Chs. I and II. See also reports on "Zoning" by the Division of
Building and Housing, U. S. Department of Commerce.
S tD v)
in
:** '? «
Above — Typical semi-detached one-family houses, Washington, D. C. (Courtesy, The
Washington Star.)
Center — -At left, Buffalo income bungalow, developed by converting a detached one-
family house, as on the right, into a two-family dwelling by raising the walls and roof.
Below — A two-family detached house typical of many cities, particularly of New
England.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 147
for a constructive program, a clear and understandable picture of
the different types of dwellings.
The difficulties, we believe, have been overcome. Discussion
made it evident that the classification adopted is not only the
simplest, but that it was pertinent to the work of the other commit-
tees. If some, for technical reasons, need another classification,
as styles of architecture or classes of construction, these can well
supplement the general classification here presented. As for words
with many meanings, the committee has avoided those like
"duplex" and "flat," that have a definite meaning in one part of
the country quite different from an equally definite meaning in
another part.
Comment of Other Committees Asked
The Committee on Types of Dwellings was cautious in its pro-
cedure. Having tentatively adopted its classification and its
nomenclature, it asked for comment by other committees. The
response was gratifying. A number of constructive suggestions
were promptly adopted. Except in the case of the "two-family"
dwelling, the words seemed to cause no confusion. But in that
case, even where group and row houses are well known and where,
consequently, the observer has no difficulty in recognizing that
three one-family houses in a group are three one-family houses
and twenty-two one- family houses in a row are twenty- two one-
family houses, the same observer, seeing two one-family houses
side by side, sometimes calls them one two-family house. How-
ever, correspondence has led to acceptance of the limitation of a
two-family house to a house with "one family above the other."
Types of Dwellings
The committee, therefore, adopted and recommended that the
Conference use this accepted classification of types and varieties
of dwellings, which groups them into three types with three
varieties in each type.2 In the case of the multiple dwelling, how-
2 One committee member says : "In the case of the small house, its very
singleness has limited changes to improvements rather than the creation of
any new variety. In the case of the multiple dwelling new varieties have
emerged only recently ; due to their outward physical resemblance to older
forms and the continued prevalence of the older forms of multiple dwell-
ings, the new varieties are not readily distinguishable as such ; perhaps their
evolution as new varieties is still incomplete even though definitely on the
way."
148 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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150 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
ever, the number of possible arrangements of family units within
a single building is so large and the potentialities of modern con-
struction methods so great that new varieties appear to have been
in process of evolution in recent years. These are discussed and
illustrated by a member of the committee in one of the appendices.3
Types
1. One-family dwelling.
Designed 4 for occupancy by one family from
ground to roof.
2. Two-family dwelling.
Designed for occupancy by two families, one above
the other.
3. Multiple dwelling.
Designed for occupancy by three or more families.
Multiple dwellings range from buildings with
self-contained apartments, through the apartment
hotel to the hotel.
Varieties
Each of these types may be :
(a) Detached or free standing.
With open space on all four sides.
(b) Semi-detached or twin.5
With open space on three sides, the fourth being
a party wall or a wall on the lot line.
(c) Group and row.
All except the end houses usually having only
two sides on open spaces, the other two sides
being party walls or walls on lot lines. Group
houses, fewer in the unit, lend themselves to
more forms of architectural design and plan
than do row houses.
3 See Appendix III, "Diagrams and Descriptions of Types and Varieties of
Dwellings" p. 216.
* Of course a dwelling designed for occupancy by one family may be "con-
verted" to provide for two or more families and so become legally a two-
family or a multiple dwelling.
5 In some places called a double house.
C/3
Above — Semi-detached two-family houses, the so-called St. Louis flat.
Center — Two-family row houses, Washington, D. C. (Courtesy, Housing Committee,
Washington Council of Social Agencies.)
Below — A typical row of lot-line multi-family dwellings in New York City.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 151
Mixed Occupancy
A dwelling of any type combined with a store or other
business building.
Discussion of Types and Varieties
In the discussion of types of dwellings it was pointed out that :
1. Each type is, in practice, subject to infinite modifications. The three
types may be used together in one development or even in a group or row.
"Doubling up" of families in a one-family house does not change the house,
but when a one-family dwelling is altered or remodeled to provide distinct
and separate accommodations for additional families, then it becomes a two-
family or a multiple dwelling.
2. A variety of a type, as the row one-family house in some Atlantic coast
cities or the bungalow in some cities of the central states, may be so pre-
dominant locally that it seems to be in a class by itself. Yet it remains
definitely related to the more neglected members of its class.
3. Certain varieties, perhaps even a type of dwelling, seem to be on the
way to oblivion.8 The two-family house is not as popular as it was several
years ago, despite its recent appearance in new forms in Buffalo and Boston.
In Washington the row house seems to be losing popularity. These are
dwellings that economize on land. The reasons for their decrease may be
of enough significance to justify study by a competent organization. Assum-
ing that the observed tendency is real and continuing, is it perhaps due to
the decreasing rate of urban population growth, coupled with the extension
of urban area available for residence?
4. Theoretically the different types of dwellings are supplementary, each
serving best the needs of some group in the community. They become com-
petitive only if one type tends to destroy another that has social value.
Recognized advantages of one type of dwelling may, by the use of imagi-
nation and ingenuity, be transferred to another type.
This point was referred to the Committee on Design with the suggestion
that if it found any advantage in the way of design, plan or equipment that
is now enjoyed by one type of dwelling, the committee should endeavor to
transfer that advantage to dwellings of other types. Heat and hot water
from a central plant, for example, may be distributed to the occupants of
two hundred one-family dwellings as well as to the occupants of two hun-
dred apartments. Can the advantage of the private yard or garden be trans-
ferred from the one-family house to the multiple dwelling?
5. Changes in plan, design, management, may take much of the point out
of some arguments advanced for or against any particular type of dwelling.
The handicaps of the one-family house, tending the furnace and shoveling
the snow, disappear when there is management analogous to that of apart-
ment houses. This, of course, involves some neighborhood organization if
See suggested study number 1, p. 172.
152 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
houses are individually owned.7 But if one-family dwellings are rented and
managed as are apartments, not only do these handicaps disappear but with
them goes another that has promoted apartment living, the inability or the
reluctance of a family to assume the responsibilities of home ownership.
Faced with the alternative of apartment renting or home buying, families
have reluctantly chosen the apartment.
On the other hand, it may be that the newer forms of apartment houses
will decrease the nomadic tendency of apartment dwellers. In the past, the
multiple dwelling has tended to provide quarters constantly more and more
cramped, smaller rooms and fewer of them. The garden apartments may
reverse this tendency. If that is so, they may find a more permanent popu-
lation in the elderly couples, in the childless families who now restlessly
shift from one to another. It may even be that they will provide adequately
for the families with children.
The Essentials of Good Housing, plus Desirables
Group discussions of housing usually begin with implied as-
sumptions based upon personal or professional experience or
desire. The mental picture is not of a type of dwelling, but of a
particular house, including its equipment. Cost of land is assumed
to be that which the speaker would today have to pay in his home
community or his favorite neighborhood.
One of the difficult tasks of the committee was to get behind
these assumptions. The first question is : What are the essentials
of good housing? Then follow questions as to how these essen-
tials may best be provided, what beyond the essentials should be
provided.
The essentials of good housing involve the house itself, the rela-
tion of the house to its neighbors and to the whole community.8
As to the house itself, the essentials are few and simple : First, a
building that will provide shelter from the weather. Then, ade-
quate light for every room; sunlight for as many rooms as pos-
sible; adequate ventilation for every room; adequate and con-
venient supply of pure water ; adequate and convenient toilet facili-
ties ; such a number of rooms and such an arrangement of rooms
that privacy is possible. Adequate heating facilities and an ade-
quate supply of hot water are considered essentials by some people.
These essentials can be provided in any type or variety of
7 There are companies that render such services in one-family neighbor-
hoods.
8 See "Planning for Residential Districts," Publications of the President's
Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washington, 1932,
Vol. I, Chs. I and II.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 153
dwelling, but the temptation to crowd them out is greater in some
types or varieties than in others, largely because of possibilities of
greater profit on land. If there were no profit to the developer in
land overcrowding, one of the most serious counts against the
multiple dwelling and the row dwelling would probably disappear.
Stability of Land Value and Its Effect upon the Type of
Dwelling. When the beginning of an alternation of cause and
effect is lost in the dim past, it may be anybody's guess as to
whether hen or egg came first. A few years ago it was common
habit in New York to blame the rivers that hemmed in Manhat-
tan for the development of tenement houses, though the tenement
flourished before New York extended beyond Fourteenth Street.
So there are those who claim that the multiple dwelling is a
product of high land values while others claim that high land
values are a product of the multiple dwelling. Historically, the
tenement seems to have appeared, not as a product of high land
values, but as a result of social problems for which it was thought
to provide a solution; greater living accommodations within a
given area — as within city walls, within walking or horse-car dis-
tance of the business center, easier accessibility to points of interest.
Supplementing this cause is the decadence of high-priced, be-
cause once fashionable, residence districts. Here is an apparent
sequence of high land values causing tenements, for the owners,
wishing to maintain capital value and revenue, substituted several
families of lower economic status in place of one departing family
of higher status. First the deserted mansion was subdivided, then
additions were built, or a new multiple dwelling erected. But here
again the high land value in the first place was due to accessibility
and a limit on the amount of land available in terms of the needs
of the first occupants, and it was maintained because of accessi-
bility and a limit on the amount available in terms of the needs of
the later occupants. Move or distribute the centers to which the
occupants of the tributary residence district wish to be accessible,
then the land value will decrease.
So land value, beyond the cost of the raw land plus the cost of
improvements necessary to make it fit for its stated use, is due to
the relation between the amount of land available and the number
of people who wish to use it. That is, city planning and zoning
have a direct effect; city planning, by increasing the amount of
154 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
available land, zoning, by so assigning uses that the amount of land
provided for each will be adequate to but not greatly in excess of
the need. Among other things, zoning should so distribute centers
of employment and other centers of interest that adjacent resi-
dence districts will tend naturally to develop only that degree of
density in land occupancy that is considered, in each case, socially
and economically desirable.
If and when these objectives of city planning and zoning have
been achieved, land values will tend to become stabilized. With
stabilized land values, investment in improvements should contem-
plate a longer future, should be designed to take the greatest pos-
sible advantage of the stated use, and should reduce to a minimum
temporary expedients based upon either fear of neighborhood
deterioration or hope of speculative increase in land values.
Then the value of land will approximate the cost of the raw
land plus the cost of preparing it for its stated use. Under these
conditions, land designed for a one-family house district should
cost less per square foot to prepare — smaller sewers and water
mains, narrower and lighter roadbeds, than land designed for
more intensive use, as for multiple dwellings. This should tend to
stabilize the character of a neighborhood and the type of dwell-
ing in it.
Importance of the Land Question. So important and basic
is this question of the value of land that some housing reformers
believe that housing reform must be preceded by land reform. To
others, this is analogous to advising that America be Christianized
before missionaries are sent abroad. Moreover, some of those
others believe the land problem is already in process of solution
because of the diminishing rate of urban population growth,
coupled with the constant extension of urban land available for
residence. Their belief is strengthened by evidence that the
normal cost of a lot in the various cities remains in fairly constant
relation to the normal cost of the house to be built upon it, and
that the normal width of the normal lot, whether 14 feet, 25, 30
or 40 feet makes little difference in its cost. The density of land
occupancy customary to the community apparently is a most im-
portant factor in determining raw land costs, is the chief factor,
for example, that makes a Philadelphia acre, when "ripe" for
housing development, sell for $18,200 while a similar acre in cities
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 155
with detached instead of row house development, sells for $1,200
to $4,500.9
There is, of course, a minimum cost of housing land based upon
its agricultural or other open-use value plus the cost of develop-
ment. What the cost of development may be depends upon local
legal standards and the local standard of living. The essential
cost may be considerably lower than these.
Conveniences versus Essentials
In our city building we have tended to think as well as act from
the center out, carrying into new subdivisions practices born under
downtown conditions. As a result, we have developed an unques-
tioning habit of giving rather more importance to a nickeled faucet
than to a sunny window, accepting constantly increasing land
occupancy as part of the price of new equipment.
This Conference offers opportunity to review our habit, to think
in terms of bringing to the town some of the spaciousness of the
country and bringing it as economically as possible, while the
country is getting some of the equipment advantages of the city.
If the cost of a 40- foot lot need be little or no greater than that
of a 14-foot lot, then there is no question as to which is the more
desirable even when group housing calls for a modification of lot
lines. If really open building is economically practicable in urban
areas, then the cost of the house may be reduced, for part of the
cost of a city dwelling is due to close proximity to neighbors which
it endangers and by which it is endangered.
The Summer Village and Camp. There are in the environs
of some of our cities and other municipalities, summer villages. The
dwellings in these communities range all the way from board
cabins to expensive mansions. Somewhere within this range are
dwellings that contain all the essentials, that are desirable and de-
sired. One such community of more than 300 cabins has bath-
rooms with shower, toilet and basin, has sanitary disposal of
sewage, has kitchen sink, has electric light. The houses are
architecturally attractive. They cost much less to build than do
analogous houses within the city limits. Comparatively little would
V/W^
9 See Whitten, Robert, and Adams, Thomas, Neighborhoods of Small
Homes (Harvard City Planning Studies No. Ill), Cambridge, Harvard
University Press, 1931.
156 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
be needed to make them comfortable in winter. They are prac-
ticable because of open building.
It is, of course, recognized that economical housing is not
synonymous with cheap housing. First of all, there is a standard
at and above which there are pride and incentive to progress, be-
low which there are apathy and deterioration. But this standard
is not determined entirely in terms of money. The desirable
village house may cost less than the slum dwelling. Also it is
recognized that first cost is not the only cost. Maintenance, re-
pairs, depreciation, obsolescence are all factors in cost. Lot over-
crowding, a lot arrangement by which one house is placed behind
another, may reduce first costs but hasten obsolescence and cut
down resale value. Poor floor planning may be as effective as
poor materials in reducing value.
On the other hand, while recognizing that economical housing
is not synonymous with cheap housing, it also is recognized that
one may build too expensively for his purpose. Between the paper
and bamboo house of Japan that flares up so frequently and the
stone farmhouse of Prussia that preserves until today the con-
centrated smells of seven hundred years, there is a golden mean.
A dwelling is not expected to last forever. The Prussians can
build better farmhouses today than they were able to build 700
years ago and would, if the old ones were not so solid. So we
should build for a fairly limited term of years, having in mind that
the building will then be demolished. Our problem is, how can
we get the most for this period at least cost ?
Long-Time Policy: Immediate Practice
There are two approaches to this problem; that of long-time
^policy, that of immediate practice. The immediate practice ap-
proach is the common one. It consists in taking conditions as they
are in a particular community and figuring out the best that can
be done today. Apparently, approximately one-fifth is a pre-
dictable proportion of lot cost to total cost in cities of all sizes.10
A Practical Problem. So, if the approach is that of immediate
practice, one is confined to figuring what is the best to be done with
Ibid., p. 34.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 157
prevailing lot costs and prevailing11 building costs per cubic foot as
determined by the quality of the building, this in turn being deter-
mined by the requirements of the local building code, and the re-
quirements of the local building code being in part determined by
the density of land occupancy with its accompanying hazards. So
we begin and end with the land.
Here then are a series of variables, with local varations in each
community. With these in hand, after every economy in method
of construction has been utilized, it is possible to compute the
lowest economic rental per room in new dwellings of any given
type. The higher the land cost and the accompanying assessments,
the more rigid the building regulations and the lower the income
of the families to be housed, the more dense will be the popula-
tion. Theoretically, this density can be carried to any degree.
Practically, tired nature seems to provide for a vomiting or siphon-
ing process when overtaxed. Practically, therefore, it may prove
wise, when land occupancy has been carried to a point where desir-
able dwellings cannot be provided within the means of those whom
we wish to house, either to (1) turn our attention to a higher in-
come group ; or (2) turn our attention to cheaper land.
There is nothing that compels us to house a certain group of
people on a certain area. There always have been alternatives. A
century ago when speculators in Washington held up the price of
land in the most desirable section, the people went elsewhere.
Today it is much easier to go elsewhere. Then the price comes
down. Of course, any virtue carried to excess tends to become a
vice. Development of too much new land is economically waste-
ful.
The Long-Time Policy. The second approach to this par-
ticular problem of housing is that of long-time policy. If it is true
that land value is determined by use and land costs by expected }
use, then site costs may be brought down to approximately open-
use value plus cost of development by making alternative sites
available. Further, the cost of development may be reduced by
utilizing lands most easily developed and by requiring only essen-
11 If prevailing building costs can be reduced by improved engineering or
management technique or otherwise, it is assumed that this will be done.
See "House Design, Construction and Equipment," Publications of the Presi-
dent's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washington,
1932, Vol. V, Pt. II.
158 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
tials. In the first, city planning and zoning play an important
part; in the second, land subdivision.
The Cost of a Dwelling. Apparently each of us inclines to
accept without question a correlation between type of dwelling as
he conceives it and the standard or quality to which he has been
accustomed and to reach conclusions on the basis of this correlation.
For example, the words "one-family dwelling" may call to mind a
picture of a tree-bordered residence street lined with 6- to 8-room
detached houses set in ample grounds and costing from $8,000 to
$12,000 each. The words "multiple dwelling" may call to mind a
picture of New York's Lower East Side. On the basis of these
mental pictures we then proceed to conclusions as to the cost of
the different types of dwellings.
As a matter of fact each type may be constructed very inex-
pensively. Cost in each type depends largely on quality.12 And
quality depends on :
1. The number and the proximity of buildings to each other.
An isolated dwelling on a mountain side may be quite satisfactory
and yet lack things that are essential for a dwelling on a narrow
city lot.
2. The standard of construction, sanitation, amenity that the
community has set. A frontier community with board buildings
widely spaced, with dirt streets, with primitive sanitary conve-
niences, may have cheaper dwellings of any type than can a com-
munity that demands lath and plaster, fire-resistive walls, public
water supply and sewers, indoor plumbing, etc. Climate, too,
has a definite effect on standards of construction.
There are, of course, certain costs inherent in the type of dwell-
ing. Theoretically it would cost less per family to put four
families in one square box-like building, give them one flight of
stairs to use in common, one hydrant for water supply and one
privy vault, than it would to give each of those families the same
number of rooms in separate dwellings. But at once there arise
questions of maintenance, operation, repairs, depreciation and
obsolescence. What would be the net return on the two types at
the expiration of 15 years, or of 25 years? What would be the
resale value of the two types? Beyond this there are questions
"There is such wide diversity of opinion as to the comparative "cheap-
ness" of the multiple and the one-family dwelling that the committee sug-
gests the assembly of more data than are now available.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 159
of community costs. Would a population housed in box-like four-
family or twelve-family tenements two or three stories high, con-
structed of boards, call for more expenditure for fire, police,
and health protection, than would the same population in little one-
family cabins also constructed of boards?
In practice, therefore, the one- family house begins with the
plain board cabin containing 2 or 3 rooms and ranges all the way
up to the most expensive dwellings built. Its equipment begins
with the primitive privy vault and a cistern, progresses through
the street or yard hydrants supplying several houses with city
water, through the one- faucet kitchen sink and the outdoor, sewer-
connected toilet to the dwelling supplied with every modern con-
venience.
In practice, the multiple dwelling begins on a more costly stand-
ard because of inherent fire and health hazards, and progresses
through the various stages of better construction and more com-
plete equipment until it also has become very expensive. During
its whole progress, however, it is necessarily more strictly regu-
lated than is the one-family house, because its type is more readily
subject to abuse. So tenement house laws and regulations have
preceded more general housing regulations.
The cost of a dwelling is not, then, despite a common impres-
sion to the contrary, either the cost of construction or its selling
price. Its accounts are not closed on the books of its owner, its
occupants, its community, until it is demolished and its site knows
it no more. Such complete accounting would quite reverse some
conclusions based solely on initial costs.
Under initial costs come :
1. Cost of site.
As between city and city, a site of the same cost may be 14 feet wide or
40 feet wide, depending upon building practice. Building practice can be
changed-
2. Costs due to community standards, legal or social.
The legal standards, as expressed in cost of construction, may vary with
the size of lot.
3. Cost of the building.
The type of dwelling, considered entirely apart from cost and size of site
and from building regulation, has comparatively little to do with its cost.
The 3- to 5-room board house, common in all of the south central states, is a
one-family detached dwelling. It is probably the most inexpensive city
dwelling constructed. Closely approximating it in some of our smaller
160 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
towns where there are no building regulations, where land is cheap, there
are cheap wooden structures sheltering four to a dozen families.
4. Cost of financing.
Under continuing costs come :
1. Operation and administration affected by :
(a) Type of dwelling. House property requires supervision and manage-
ment, the extent and cost varying with the type of property and the char-
acter of tenants.
2. Maintenance and repair affected by :
(a) Type of dwelling. Common use runs up bills.
(b) Quality of materials and workmanship. An initial saving may mean
ultimate greater cost.
3. Depreciation and obsolescence.
A dwelling, like its builder, is mortal. It has a span of life that should be
estimated and provided for, whether it shall be 30 years or 60 years. Dur-
ing that period depreciation and obsolescence should be written off. They
are affected by :
(a) Type of dwelling. The multiple dwelling tends both to depreciate
and to become obsolete more rapidly than does the one-family dwelling.
Equipment, such as elevators, depreciates more rapidly than does the build-
ing. Depreciation and obsolescence, in multiple dwellings particularly, has
undoubtedly been effected to an appreciable extent by rapid improvements
in design and equipment of the better grade buildings.
(b) Appurtenant open spaces. Those dwellings that have outlived their
contemporaries usually have considerable private open spaces on their lots,
public open spaces in their neighborhoods. Open space on the lot permits
reconditioning and modernization.
(c) Character of neighborhood. Zoning, by stabilizing neighborhoods,
promises to check obsolescence.
(d) Quality of material and workmanship.
4. Taxes.
The incidence of taxes encourages or discourages a type of dwelling.
Different types of dwellings impose different financial burdens on the com-
munity.
5. Cost of financing.
Composition of the Population and the Housing Needs
of the Various Groups
There are two ways of classifying the population in terms of
housing needs, by income and by social relationships.
Income Groups. The income groups are affected primarily by
the construction standards of the community and by the cost of
land. If these are unduly costly, the lower-income groups are,
inevitably, crowded in their habitations and are forced to accept
dwellings that lack the essentials of adequate light, air, water sup-
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 161
ply, sanitary toilets and privacy. It has been estimated that in the
United States, 9,000,000 to 11,000,000 persons are near the poverty
line. There are another 12,000,000 on a bare subsistence level.
There are another 20,000,000 who have only a minimum for health
and efficiency. Then come 30,000,000 with a minimum for com-
fort. It is these last and especially the 47,000,000 even more
happily placed, for whom most of our housing has been provided.
The others often have taken what the more fortunate have dis-
carded. This housing has not been necessarily bad. When bad, it
has been due largely to overcrowding and to deterioration.
How far down the economic scale we shall build is a matter of
policy that concerns several of the Conference committees, espe-
cially those on Construction, Finance, Fundamental Equipment,
Utilities for Houses, Subdivision Layout, Blighted Areas and
Slums, Reconditioning, Remodeling and Modernizing, City Plan-
ning and Zoning, and Home Ownership and Leasing.
The Committee on Types of Dwellings suggests that the group
with annual incomes of from $1,800 to $2,200 be taken as the
objective and that committee recommendations be scaled up and
down from this group.13
Groups by Social Relationships. Even more important and
less regarded is the grouping of population by social relationships,
by family groups and others. We have built dwellings of differ-
ent types in accordance with the builder's "hunch" as to what would
sell. We have noted proportionate increases or decreases in dif-
ferent types of dwellings and have drawn hasty conclusions from
the crude statistics.
Anyone who has read American journals or accounts of travels
in America during the early part of the nineteenth century knows
that families frequently lived in boarding houses, that a large pro-
portion of the unattached, bachelors especially, spinsters more
rarely, found in boarding houses their only refuge. And the
boarding houses were the one-family type of house. So, when the
apartment appeared, it rilled a long- felt need of certain groups.
Filling a void, it increased rapidly.
"Although its operation is for a somewhat higher-income group, the
studies leading to the Buhl Foundation project in Pittsburgh are of interest
in this connection. See Architectural Record, October, 1931, p. 217, and
"Slums, Large-Scale Housing and Decentralization," Publications of the
President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washing-
ton, 1932, Vol. Ill, Appendix VI, p. 138.
162 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Any person who, 20 years ago, lived in a small town knows
that many people, familyless and forlorn, lived in the local hotel.
Again the apartment house filled a long-felt need.
Anyone who has studied apartment house financing in recent
years has an impression that recent apartment house construction
has gone beyond the demand.14 This is, of course, true of specu-
lative small house construction, but to a lesser extent.
For such reasons, the Committee on Types of Dwellings has
made a special study of the composition of the population in terms
of social relations and its housing needs. Tentatively, it has
divided the population into the following groups :
1. The family consisting of
(a) Man and wife.
(b) Father and mother or father or mother plus one child.
(c) Plus two children.
(d) Plus three or more children.
(?) Plus other dependents (usually adults, elderly people).
2. Unattached individuals.
(a) Men.
(b) Women.
(c) Children.
Supplementing this, it has made a study of the possibility of group-
ing various types of dwellings into a neighborhood or community
and so not only meeting social needs in terms of dwellings of the
required types, but meeting those needs more adequately by estab-
lishing a natural relationship between the different types of
dwellings.15
Social Needs and How They are Met by the Different Types
of Dwellings
There are two assumptions :
1. That the community is to perpetuate itself. Consequently in any hous-
ing program first consideration must be given to the needs of children.
2. That every member of the community should have housing accommo-
dations that are adequate both in quality and in quantity. Health is a first
consideration, but the amenities — convenience, comfort, attractiveness —
should be provided in the largest measure practicable.
The first assumption simply translates into terms of society as
14 Vacancy surveys of 44 cities show a greater proportion of vacancies in
multiple dwellings than in other types. (Data from Division of Building
and Housing, U. S. Department of Commerce.)
15 See Appendix I, Family Types and Housing Trends, p. 175.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 163
a whole the axiom that self-preservation is the first law of nature.
This, of course, has its very practical and immediate implications.
The assumption that the community will continue is the basis for
most of our daily actions. Were we to cut out all thought of suc-
ceeding generations, all provision for them, not only would life
lose most of its significance, but business would shrink until the
present depression would seem, in comparison, a time of unbeliev-
able prosperity.
With restriction of immigration and with our farm population
already a minority of our total population, it is evident that our
cities and towns must themselves provide their future inhabitants.
That means adequate provision for children, and that in turn,
means dwellings that meet the needs of children.
We therefore have two definite groups in the population to con-
sider, those who have or propose to have children, and others.
The "others" may be subdivided into a series of groups whose de-
sires in the matter of a dwelling range all the way from a suburban
estate through a small, compact "efficiency" apartment to rooms
in a hotel, or, on a lower economic scale, from a cottage through
a boarding house to a lodging house.
There are certain essentials in all dwellings, but after these
essentials, differences begin. To some persons a dwelling is merely
a habitation, a shelter from the elements, a place where one can
sleep. To others it must be a home, a place where one lives, an
object of affection. A "home," consequently, must have per-
sonality ; it must symbolize the group that occupies it. Especially
is this true if the group is a family that includes children. It is
accepted that the foster child who is given the benefits of family
life, the affection of parents, has advantages over the child placed
in an institution. So the child reared in a dwelling that typifies
the individual family has advantages over one reared in a congre-
gate dwelling.
There are, however, more tangible considerations. A normal,
healthy child is active and noisy. It needs space indoors and out.
It needs the freedom possible only where adult irritation is counter-
balanced by affection. This means the one- family house with its
own yard. Beginning with the detached one-family house sur-
rounded by ample grounds, the desirability of dwellings for chil-
dren decreases as the dwellings are crowded more and more
164 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
closely together. But the real change comes with change in type
of dwelling from one-family to two-family, and much more, to
multiple. Then children are likely to become a serious annoyance.
With change in type of dwelling another factor enters. The
one-family house, whether detached, semi-detached or row, seldom
has less than 5 rooms. Because of economic factors, it usually
has 6 rooms even in the least expensive row developments. This
means space for children. The multiple dwelling, on the other
hand, is always under an economic pressure that contracts the
number of rooms in an apartment and the sizes of those rooms.
One less room in each apartment may make possible one or two
more apartments on a floor. Decreasing the size of rooms has
proved so profitable to the speculative builder who sells and gets
out, that tenement house laws set definite minimum room sizes,
even definite minimum widths to prevent rooms being made so
narrow that they are unusable. Obviously, such dwellings extend
no welcome to children.
There are those who believe the multiple dwelling can be made
a children's dwelling, that with better planning, with more gen-
erous open spaces and with playgrounds on its own lot, it can be
made to compete with the one- family house. There are others
who believe that one- family houses in groups may be planned for
families who need only 3 or 4 rooms.
For adults who have no children the multiple dwelling may meet
social needs. But this also is a subject for discussion. The child-
less couple may prefer a domain of their own, a garden of their
own creation. The business or professional woman may prefer a
2- or 3-room dwelling in a group or in a row, with its own street
entrance, its own small back yard. Or she may prefer a room
with bath and its own entrance in a building that otherwise con-
tains only one family.
In the recent past our dwelling construction has been guided
chiefly by the profit motive of the builder. Many of the worst
practices of the past, however, have ceased to be profitable and, in
the face of slower population growth, may well continue to be
unprofitable. Profits in the future are more likely to be based on
better buildings for less money. Starting with the one-family
dwellings that were practically the only type in the early days of
the republic, the private builder has followed two main lines : First,
a continuance of the one-family house tradition yoked to the tra-
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 165
dition that this house should be occupied by its owner ; second, the
radical change to the multiple dwelling following its introduction
in New York a century ago by a group of philanthropists who
naively believed it would solve the housing problems of the poor.
The first has led to "own your own home" campaigns. The sec-
ond usually has been considered an investment proposition.
The multiple dwelling did not solve the housing problem of the
poor ; it made their problem, in some ways, more difficult ; it made
their habitations smaller, more inaccessible, more expensive. But
it did and does offer advantages to those groups in better economic
circumstances who previously had no alternatives to the hall bed-
room and the boarding house.
The housing problem of the poor arises from poverty, ignorance,
and exploitation. Make good housing (in any form whatever,
one-family, two-family, or multiple, properly apportioned to the
ascertained needs of communities) radically cheaper and one not
only provides better housing for lower-income groups but also ex-
pands an important industry, creates employment, and contributes
toward the eradication of poverty.
One of the questions before us is whether modifications in exist-
ing types of dwellings and proper apportionment of these types
will enable them to meet better the social needs of the community.
Community Relations. Good housing involves certain exter-
nal as well as internal essentials. The chief external essentials are
access and open space. Access is normally provided by the street ;
open space by the lot. Some provision for close-at-hand out-of-
door life is essential. The sunyard, the playyard, and a minimum
space for trees and grass are housing essentials.
Neighborhood Unit. For good housing it is necessary not only
to provide a good house on a good lot, but to group houses into
a complete neighborhood. Homes must be related to the school,
the kindergarten, the day-nursery, the playground and the neigh-
borhood store and civic center. General traffic should be by-passed
around the neighborhood. Sometimes, instead of providing a
playyard and a garage on every lot, it is better and more eco-
nomical to build the houses around a super-block with a common
interior block play-park and garage group. The individual house
and lot should be planned in relation to the block and to play,
school and other community facilities.
Various Housing Types in Same Neighborhood. An objec-
166 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
tion to permitting the erection of multiple dwellings in a neigh-
borhood unit made up largely of one- family houses is that it has
been found, in the zoning of cities, that a one-family house area
must have a considerable size in order to have permanence. The
near-by multiple dwellings threaten the permanence of the adjacent
one-family zone for four chief reasons :
1. The greater congestion, traffic and noise incident to the more
intensive multiple dwelling development.
2. The increase in land values in the multiple dwelling zone,
due to the more intensive use of the land and the resulting in-
crease in net profit per square foot of land used.
3. The decrease in value of a one-family house that is over-
shadowed by a multiple dwelling on a neighboring lot, its windows
darkened, its yard deprived of sun, its privacy diminished.
4. A difference in the character of multiple dwelling and one-
family house population, the greater restlessness of the former, its
greater tendency to shirk responsibility, are indicative of a differ-
ent emphasis that makes it distasteful to the other group.
The second cause is of great importance. High land values in
an adjacent multiple dwelling zone cause a speculative increase in
land values in a one-family zone, based on a possible change in
the zoning. Some owners of homes who are desirous of selling,
believe there is an opportunity to sell at a good price if the zoning
can be changed. This belief points to a possible solution. Cannot
the regulation of multiple dwelling construction be such that three
at least of these causes of impermanence in the adjacent one-family
zone will be removed and the fourth perhaps be diminished?
Zoning might require the setting aside of large yards and recrea-
tion areas. This, in itself, might overcome the congestion, noise
and traffic handicap, remove the shadow and, at the same time,
keep down the price of the land. Moreover the incidental im-
provement to the multiple dwelling might stabilize its population.
The social reason for permitting various housing types, includ-
ing multiple dwellings, in the same neighborhood unit 16 is that in
18 For illustrations of the neighborhood unit see Committee on Regional
Plan of New York and Its Environs, "Neighborhood and Community Plan-
ning," Regional Survey of New York and Its Environs, New York, The
Committee, 1929, Vol. VII; and Whitten, Robert, and Adams, Thomas,
Neighborhoods of Small Homes, (Harvard City Planning Studies No. Ill),
Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1931.
See also, "Planning for Residential Districts," Publications of the Presi-
dent's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership, Washington,
1932, Vol. I, Ch. II.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 167
any community there are varying types of families with varying
requirements, both as to rent that can be paid and as to household
services and convenience desired. If the neighborhood unit is
carefully planned and zoned, and multiple dwellings permitted
only in appropriate locations, with density restricted and adequate
open space required, reason to fear an injurious effect on adjacent
one- family house areas will be diminished.
Need for Additional Research. As yet, we know compara-
tively little of the relative number of each family type that deter-
mines the demand for the various housing types in the different
neighborhood types. This is a complicated problem and much
more data should be secured before we pass final judgment on the
proportion to be assigned to any type of dwelling in a neighbor-
hood or community building program.
When this committee started work, it was hoped that the 1930
census family data for many cities would be available. This
would have enabled us to select typical neighborhoods in typical
cities and learn a great deal from their comparison. These com-
parative data could then have been supplemented by certain field
studies.
However, we have had census family data for only one city,
Wilmington;17 and only a small part of the data that will later
be made available even for that city. For our purpose, the family
data as yet unpublished will be much more important in disclosing
the composition of the family and the neighborhood than the valu-
able data to which the Census Bureau has been able to give us
access for the purposes of this study. It has been very valuable
to learn something as to the number and proportion of families
of different sizes and the proportion occupying houses of different
values or rentals ; also the proportion of families having a wage-
earning homemaker. It was particularly useful to be able to
compare the data for a typical industrial ward with that for a
better-class residential ward.
When the complete family data of the 1930 census are avail-
able, it is recommended that the research here started be con-
tinued and supplemented in a few cases by field studies of existing
neighborhoods.
See Appendix I, Family Types and Housing Trends, p. 175.
168 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Community Burdens Due to Dwelling Types
There are no reliable figures, and few of any kind, regarding
the burdens that are cast on the community by different types
and varieties of dwellings. The committee undertook a study
of the question in four selected zones in a mid-western city, but
the time available was so short, and the ramifications of the prob-
lem so numerous, that our study has been inconclusive except to
convince the committee that a comprehensive study of the subject
is highly desirable.18
Farm and Village Housing
Obviously, this report has had city housing in mind. But
actually, though perhaps not so obviously, the essentials of
good city housing are equally the essentials of good rural
and village housing. The great difference between the two is not
the building, but its site. In farm housing, and to a considerable
degree in village housing, the site is so ample that not only is there
no problem of light and air, but the house can be oriented to the
sun. The slightly compensating advantage of the city house is
in public services. Yet the farm and village house can, at not
much greater cost, have kitchen sink and bath and toilet. The
difference is one of community standards. The city has been
forced to adopt higher standards of sanitation as the price of public
health. It has been said that, as a result, its public health has be-
come better than that of the farm and village. If this is so, the
farm and village may, when they will, again take the lead.
The differences between farmhouses and village houses are not
differences of types, as these have been defined, nor even differ-
ences of variety. For the vast majority of farm and village
houses are free standing, one-family. The differences are differ-
ences of room arrangement, of size, of architectural style.
Even between farmhouses and village houses the difference is
more of degree than of kind, though the farmhouse, because it in
part still performs an economic function, may have need of an
office, a washroom, a large dining-room.
Because of seasonal work on the farm there may be need of
supplementary dwellings, dwellings analogous to the lodging
house.
18 See recommended study number 6, p. 173.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 169
In the rural areas there are other dwellings, the teachers' house
that some school districts provide, the tourists' camp, the vaca-
tion camp by stream or lake. But the problems these involve are
those of sanitation, not those of types of dwellings.
Rural Industrial Housing
The industries that in the past have migrated from the cities to
form their own communities, have tended to develop a town or
suburban environment. But there is prophecy at least of a new
emphasis on rural-industrial communities. If this comes, then
it should realize an ideal of city suburban development, generous
open spaces combined with community facilities and conveniences.
But there seem to be involved no new types of dwellings, only
the opportunity to provide better at less cost.
Mining Towns
Mining towns seem to be in the category of village industrial
housing. Their distinguishing characteristic is not in types of
dwellings ; for they usually have the one- family house, detached or
twin or row, and the lodging house or barracks ; their distinguish-
ing characteristic is that, unlike practically all our other communi-
ties, they are conscious of a short term of life. In the normal city
or town the individual dwelling may have its threescore years
and ten, but the community assumes that it will live forever. The
mining town makes no such assumption. Consequently, its dwell-
ings are frankly of temporary construction. This does not mean
they are unfit dwellings. The Du Pont villages erected during the
World War with a 2-year life expectancy, were in many ways
superior to many permanent industrial towns, to most mining
towns. The problems here are problems of construction, of design,
or sanitation.
Conclusions
The basic evil in bad housing is land overcrowding. The basic
reason for land overcrowding has been speculation in land prices.
Decreased rate of population growth, decentralization of places
of employment, opening up new areas by hard surfaced highways,
zoning regulations, and city planning have reduced pressure on
the land and place us in an unprecedentedly good position to carry
out a building program on a higher social level.
170 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
The two-family house is losing in popularity in most cities ex-
cept where it is being erected to displace the less desirable three-
decker, as in Boston. The one-family row house is losing popu-
larity in Washington. The reasons behind their decrease justify
study.
The essentials of good housing involve not only the house itself
and the lot on which it stands but, what is of great importance,
the relation of the house to its neighbors, to the public and private
open spaces about it, and to the whole community.
As to the house itself there must be adequate light and ventila-
tion for every room, sunlight for as many rooms as possible,
adequate and convenient supply of pure water, adequate and con-
venient sanitary facilities, and privacy.
As to the neighborhood, different types and varieties of dwell-
ings and the commercial and public facilities necessary to serve
them should be developed under the plan of the neighborhood
unit which, in a word, is a self-contained community.19
In the past we have thought more in terms of dwelling equip-
ment than in the basic essentials of good housing — namely — space,
light and air. - This Conference offers an opportunity to review
our practice and to begin a new policy of providing urban dwell-
ings to a greater extent with the advantage of the country, that
is, spaciousness, and provide the rural dwelling with some of the
equipment advantages the city now has.
The cost of a house can be reduced under more open building,
since part of the cost of a city dwelling is due to the hazards of
its close proximity to its neighbors which it endangers and by
which it is endangered.
Economical housing is not synonymous with cheap housing.
Nor is first cost the only cost. Maintenance, repairs, deprecia-
tion and obsolescence must be considered.
Where land occupancy, and consequently land cost, is carried to
a point where desirable dwellings cannot be provided within the
means of the families to be housed, we should either turn it over
to the use of a higher-income group or seek cheaper land. Nothing
compels the housing of a certain group on a certain area.
Land costs may be brought down by making other areas avail-
able. This should be done, however, in accordance with city
19 See works cited in footnote 16, p. 166.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 171
planning principles including proper subdivision regulations to
prevent uneconomical extensions of municipal facilities.
Costs of dwellings may be divided into two classes, initial
costs including cost of site, cost of building, and costs due to
legal or social community standards ; and continuing costs includ-
ing operation and administration, maintenance and repair, de-
preciation and obsolescence, interest, insurance, and taxes. Costs
of financing are a part of both classes. In comparing dwelling
costs, all these factors must be considered from the time the build-
ing is erected until the site is again cleared.
Studies having the objective of improved housing should take
as their starting point the provision of dwellings for the majority
of families, represented by that urban group having annual incomes
of approximately $1,800. Conclusions may then be scaled up or
down to meet the needs of other income groups.
There are various types of families, and their housing require-
ments are correspondingly varied. In most communities there is
need both for one- family houses and for multiple dwellings. The
one- family house has advantages for the family with children.
The small apartment has advantages of convenience and economy
for many families of adults.
While the tendency to greater and greater lot occupancy is
almost universal unless and until it is checked by legislation de-
signed to protect the public interest, it has gone farthest in the
older and larger cities of the Atlantic seaboard. The resulting
high population density has produced high land values,20 and these
in turn have contributed to increased lot occupancy.
In metropolitan regions, multiple dwellings tend to congregate
near the larger commercial centers and near rapid transit and
suburban railroad stations, for convenience of access to centers of
business and of entertainment.
The typical apartment is a temporary abode, which does not
have the atmosphere and associations of a permanent home. The
apartment population is a relatively nomadic population reluctant
to assume local responsibilities.
Occupants of one-family houses, whether owned or rented, tend
to have greater stability, a greater concern in the character of
20 See Appendix II, Land Value and Its Effect upon Types of Dwellings,
p. 208.
172 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
their neighborhood. With genuine home ownership, stability
and concern in neighborhood and civic affairs are increased.
The decreasing rate of population growth, the declining birth
rate, and the resultant increased proportion of older people in
the population are having an effect upon the dwelling accommoda-
tions needed. Smaller families composed exclusively of adults
may get along with smaller houses and with apartments. When 1,
2, or 3 rooms are adequate, the multiple dwelling offers obvious
advantages.
But while the 2- or 3-multi-family dwelling unit may adequately
serve the needs of a childless couple, it may also be in some de-
gree responsible for keeping a couple childless. The declining
birth rate, the increased proportion of elderly people, indicate
not only an increasing demand for dwellings in which one may
grow old in comfort, but also a need for dwellings that are hos-
pitable to children.
The maintenance of a proper proportion of one-family homes
and of multiple dwellings will be aided by requirements that the
multiple dwellings shall have large yards and courts that will not
only provide light and air for their own rooms, but that will pre-
vent the high land values that follow intensive building and lead
to more intensive building.
Good housing involves not only a good dwelling on a good
lot, but also a proper relation of the dwelling to its neighborhood
and to the community as a whole. The home must be related
to the school, the playground, the library, the neighborhood stores
and civic center. The arrangement of dwellings may vary from
the self-contained property with house and private garden and
garage to the group of dwellings about a common playground,
served by a block or neighborhood garage.
Studies
The committee recommends that the following studies be made
by appropriate existing agencies or by bodies established for the
purpose :
1. The possible decline in various types and varieties of dwellings in
terms of:
(a) Undue land occupancy.
Two-family dwellings.
Row dwellings.
TYPES OF DWELLINGS 173
(b) Uneconomic units of administration, as small multiple dwellings
(3 to 8 families).
2. Most one-family dwellings erected by speculative builders are built for
sale, while most multiple dwellings are built for rental of units to their
occupants. The committee recommends a study of the effect of this practice
upon the occupancy of multiple dwellings to determine whether one-family
homes produced for rental, as has been found to be desirable in Pittsburgh
by the Buhl Foundation, would not meet a demand that may now be met
imperfectly by the multiple dwelling. This study should comprehend the
basis of present building practices, that is, whether public demand is behind
the production of apartment houses or whether the public need for living
accommodations at a given rental level and without future commitments is
being exploited by apartment house builders.
3. It would be of great interest and value to work out a schedule listing
dwellings by types and varieties in the order of their desirability, setting a
definite rental rate on each for specific income groups, and in this way de-
termine the compromises necessary on each type and variety because of
increases in land value or in building costs. This study should in each case
be carried to the point where each type or variety becomes socially objec-
tionable or economically impossible.
4. What are the relative costs of building and of operating housing units
in the various types and varieties of houses. Study should be on the basis, as
near as possible, of:
Identical floor area.
Identical cubage.
Identical number of rooms.
Identical equipment.
Identical service.
Equivalent location.
Comparable amenities.
Where identical comparisons are impossible proper allowance should be
made for these factors.
5. When complete family data of the 1930 census are available, the re-
search started on the basis of these data and constituting an appendix to this
report should be continued and supplemented, so far as practical, by field
studies of existing neighborhoods.21
6. A study of the burdens cast upon the community by different types of
dwellings. Such a study should comprehend the street requirements, includ-
ing automobile parking; community utilities such as storm and sanitary
sewers and water mains; schools and other educational facilities; play-
grounds, parks, and other open spaces; police and fire protection; garbage
and other waste disposal ; and other factors.
In such a study consideration must not be confined to first cost and main-
tenance charges. The intangible investment factors such as improved earn-
ing ability and citizenship attributable to schools and recreational facilities,
conditions of health due to adequate open spaces and freedom from noise,
21 See Appendix I, Family Types and Housing Trends, p. 175.
174 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
and safety for children must be weighed and evaluated. Possibilities of
changes in services such as are made possible through incineration of garbage
and waste and the burning of completely combustible fuels, and such as the
motorizing of police patrols should be taken into account.
7. A study to determine the ways in which multi- and one-family types of
housing supplement each other and to determine the competitive phases of
the two.
8. The relation of land costs to types of dwellings to determine whether
existing relations are economic, are the result of necessity, or of ignorance
of the investor as to the proper type of dwelling for a given plot, or are the
result of demand ; to determine whether high land values make one-family
housing impossible and at what level land values make one-family housing
an uneconomic investment ; and to determine whether there are intermediate
types of housing that would be economical on relatively high-priced land.
9. The saving in community costs effected by rehabilitating blighted areas,
as compared with endless spreading out to new unimproved areas.
Courtesy of M. and R. B. Warren and
Tilden Gardens, Inc.
Photograph by
Buckingham
Detached multi-family houses in Washington, D. C. This development con-
sists of five buildings erected as a single operation.
Courtesy of Berkeley L. Simmons Photograph by Buckingham
More than usually attractive semi-detached apartment houses in Washington,
D. C., built to resemble single-family dwellings, erected with a party wall
rising from the court in the center of the photograph.
APPENDIX I
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS1
I. Family Types
Varying Types and Housing Needs
It seems that social needs as related to types as well as to sizes
of dwellings will depend on the needs of the various types of fami-
lies. Families vary in size, composition, income and desires. There
are small families and large families ; families of adults and fami-
lies with small children. There are families with all ranges of in-
come; those that can choose and those that must take the very
cheapest quarters. There are married women who are wage earn-
ers. There are women whose health is not equal to the care of a
large house, and whose income will not permit the hiring of a
servant. There are men who want a home and garden of their
own, and others who are glad to be relieved of that responsi-
bility.
While the one-family house is the optimum type of housing for
families with young children, it may not be for all types of fami-
lies. Whatever may be the advantage of the one-family house
from the social and civic standpoint, there are many families who
prefer the apartment house. Families of two adults, either newly
married couples with no children or elderly couples whose children
have grown and left home, frequently prefer the apartment house.
We should know how many families of this type there are. If,
as is increasingly the case, both man and wife are employed outside
the home, the apartment house may be the more satisfactory. In
families with one or more children, it often is necessary for the
wife to seek employment outside the home in order to provide
educational advantages and a decent standard of living for the
children.
In such families there may be a choice of evils in order that the
amount of housework be kept to a minimum. If the state has no
1 This study was discussed and outlined by the committee. The conduct of
the study and preparation of a report was assigned to and undertaken by
Mr. Robert Whitten, a member of the committee. The report was then
reviewed and revised by the committee and adopted as an appendix to its
report. The Wilmington, Delaware, figures used in this Appendix are pre-
liminary figures of the 1930 census, the latest available when the report was
prepared.
175
176 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
mothers' assistance fund, such facilities as day-nurseries and super-
vised playgrounds may be the substitutes for home care. There is
the married man who wishes to be relieved of all responsibility for
house and yard. Then there is the problem of housing the single
man or woman.
We cannot assume that every family consists of man, wife and
three children, as so often has been the custom of economists.
There is a great variety in types of families. Each may have its
own housing requirements. To intelligently attack the problem,
we should know what these types are and what proportion of
families fall in each group.
For the purpose of determining housing needs, families may be
classified in various ways, including :
1. Number of persons in family.
2. Number of children in family.
3. Age of children.
4. Relative need for simplification of housekeeping and house and yard
maintenance problem.
5. Need for freedom to move from one locality to another, or from one
city to another.
6. Family income.
Family Data of the 1930 Census
There is very little existing data from which the proportion of
families of the various types can be determined. The family data
of the 1930 census, when tabulated and analyzed, will give consid-
erable information as to the composition of the family. For the
purposes of this study, the Bureau of the Census has made avail-
able its tabulation of three of the proposed eight groupings or
counts of the family data for the City of Wilmington, Delaware.
These data have been used in the present study. As soon as the
census tabulation of family data is completed, not only for Wil-
mington but for all of the cities of the United States, much more
complete and worth while data can be secured as to the compo-
sition of the family.
Analysis of Wilmington Census Data
In Wilmington, Delaware, according to the 1930 census, 80.2
per cent of the families live in one-family houses, 10.1 per cent in
two-family houses, and only 9.7 per cent in multiple dwellings.
The census also shows that 45.9 per cent of the families live in
owned homes, and 54.1 per cent in rented homes.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 177
Composition of the Family. Of the total number of families,
31.9 per cent consist of not more than two related persons. The
census data for the family are tabulated according to number of
related persons and so does not include lodgers and other persons
not related by blood, marriage or adoption, to the head of the fam-
ily. Families of three related persons make up 21.3 per cent of
the total, so that there are 53.2 per cent of the families having not
more than three persons. The minimum housing needs of most of
these families can be satisfied with a 3- to 5-room house or apart-
ment. (Table I.)
Of the total number of families, 21.1 per cent have but one
child under twenty-one years of age; 15.8 per cent have two chil-
dren, 9.3 per cent three children, and 11.8 per cent have four or
more children under twenty-one. Thus 58 per cent of the fami-
lies have one or more children and 36.9 per cent have two or more
children. (Table I.) It is fairly clear that for all of the families
with two or more children, and for at least most of the families
with but one child, the advantages of a one-family house are
marked.
In 42 per cent of the families, there are no children under
twenty-one years of age, and in 63.5 per cent there are no chil-
dren under ten years of age. (Table I.) For more than two-
fifths of the total number of families, therefore, the problem of
the welfare of children is not necessarily of immediate importance
in the selection of a home. These are families of adults solely.
Fifteen per cent of the total number of families have one or
more lodgers. Of the total number of families, 8.6 per cent have
a single lodger, and 3.5 per cent have two lodgers. Only 2.9 per
cent of the total number of families have three or more lodgers.
(Table I.) It is not clear that there is any distinct advantage as
between different types of dwellings in so far as lodgers are con-
cerned.
In 15.1 per cent of the families in Wilmington, the homemaker
is gainfully employed. Of those gainfully employed, 90.8 per cent
are engaged in occupations outside the home. Of those employed
outside the home, 10.9 per cent are professional workers, 17 per
cent office workers, 9 per cent saleswomen, 39.3 per cent servants
and waitresses, and 18.2 per cent industrial workers. (Table II.)
When the children grow up and leave home, the parents may
take a small apartment. In Wilmington, 18.6 per cent of the fami-
178 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
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cs oo 10 r~ co TJ<
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t— TH CO O CS
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T-I cs co T*< 10
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
179
co 10 O ON • •
r-l <M ^t1 TH ' '
«* ON CO »H
CN
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IO NO CS TH
1-1 rj< ONTH OO
(M ro CS 00 ON *-"
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180 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
PERCENTACt
OF FAMILIES
25
CHART I
NUMBER OF RELATED PERSONS
CHART II
CHART III
- 2,500
- 5.000
01 2345
NUMBER OP CHILDREN
UNDER 10
Composition of the Family, Wilmington, Delaware
A series of charts showing the number and percentage of families having
each specified number of related persons, number of children under 21 years,
and number of children under 10 years. Graphic presentation of data from
Table I.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
181
PERCENTAGE
OF FAMILIES
CHART IV
CHART V
80
60
40
20
0123
NUMBER OF LODGERS
20.000
15.000
10.000
5.000
60
50-
40-
30-
20
10
0
15.000
10.000
5.000
0123
NUMBER OF GAINFUL
WORKERS
Composition of the Family, Wilmington, Delaware
Charts showing the number and percentage of families having each specified
number of lodgers and gainful workers. Graphic presentation of data from
Table I.
lies have a man head fifty-five or more years of age. Probably
most of these families are best accommodated in a small house
or apartment. The average age of the man head for all families
is 44.9 years.
Table II. Occupations of Gainfully Employed Homemakers,
Wilmington, Delaware.
Number of
families
Per cent
Families having homemaker
Homemaker not gainfully employed
24,499
20,808
100.0
84 9
Homemaker gainfully employed
3,691
15 1
Homemaker gainfully employed
3 691
100 0
At home
328
8 9
Away from home
3,350
90 8
Not specified
13
0 3
Homemaker employed away from home
3,350
100 0
Professional workers
365
10 9
Office workers
568
17 0
Industrial workers
609
18 2
Servants waitresses, etc
1,318
39 3
Saleswomen
302
9 0
Other occupations
188
5 6
182 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table III. Median Size of Family in Wilmington (Related
Persons Only).
All
classes
NATIVE WHITE
OTHERS
Total
Native
parents
Foreign
parents
Foreign
white
Negro
TOTAL
2.85
3.16
2.64
2.73
2.80
2.68
2.66
2.71
2.64
2.95
3.06
2.84
4.01
4.29
3.50
1.95
2.31
1.92
Owners .... . . .
Renters
In Wilmington, the average size of a private family is 4.05 per-
sons. This average is made up of 3.76 related persons and 0.29
lodgers, servants and other persons not related to the head of the
family by blood, marriage or adoption. In the make-up of the
average family of 3.76 related persons, 0.76 are children ten to
twenty years of age and 0.67 are children under ten years of age.
There are 1.43 children under 21 in the average family and 1.58
gainful workers.
Home Values and Rentals. In Wilmington the median value
of the owned homes is $6,041. The median monthly rental of the
rented home is $32.18.
In Wilmington, 26 per cent of the owned homes have a value
between $3,000 and $5,000, 33 per cent between $5,000 and $7,500,
and 14.1 per cent between $7,500 and $10,000. Thus, 73.1 per
cent of the homes owned are valued between $3,000 and $10,000.
(Table IV.)
Of the homes rented, 10.8 per cent have a monthly rental of
$15 to $20, 29.1 per cent a rental of $20 to $30, 36.7 per cent a
rental of $30 to $50, and 12.7 per cent a rental of $50 to $75. For
46.7 per cent of the total number of tenants, the monthly rental
is under $30, and for 83.4 per cent the monthly rental is under
$50. (Table V.)
The annual rental value of the owned homes has been estimated
by taking 10 per cent of the value of the owned homes.2 On this
basis the percentage of homes in the rental groups under $50 a
2 While 10 per cent gross may be low as a basis for determining commercial
rentals, it seems reasonable as a basis for comparing the probable family in-
come status of the owner and renter groups.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
183
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184 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
PERCENTAGE
OF HOMES
14
CHART VI
12
10
1.500
1,250
1.000
750
500
250
01 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
VALUE Or HOME - THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
Value of Owned Homes, Wilmington, Delaware
Distribution of Owned Homes according to Value of Home.
Where the interval of the value groups in the original data was greater than
$1,000, the groups have been split into $1,000 groups by smoothing.
month is lower for the owned homes than for the rented homes.
This is to be expected, as the families that own their homes are
likely to be of a higher average income level than those who rent.
For the owned homes, 18.1 per cent have an estimated monthly
rental value under $30, while for the rented homes 46.7 per cent
have a rental value under $30. For the owned homes, 51.9 per
cent have an estimated rental value under $50, while for the rented
homes 83.4 per cent have a monthly rental under $50. (Tables V
and VI.)
Table VII shows the estimated rental value of all homes, both
rented and 'owned. Of the total number of families, 33.5 per cent
live in homes with an estimated rental under $30, and 68.8 per
cent in homes with a rental under $50. The table also shows that
for 21 per cent of the homes the estimated rental value is between
$20 and $30; for 35.3 per cent between $30 and $50; and for 19
per cent between $50 and $75. For only 12.2 per cent is the esti-
mated rental value $75 or more; and for only 12.5 per cent is it
under $20.
Comparison of Family Types by Wards. Certain of the
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
185
1
a>
Q
§
I
rfSt
ga
§3
Number
of homes
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186 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
CHART VII
or HOMES
30r
25
20
15
10
4.000
- 3.000
- 2.000
- 1.000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
MONTHLY RENTAL OF HOME - DOLLARS
Rental Paid for Rented Homes, Wilmington,
Delaware
Distribution of Rented Homes according to Rental Paid.
Where the interval of the rental groups in the original data
was greater than $10, the groups have been split into $10
groups by smoothing.
PERCENTAGE
or HOMES
18
CHART VII!
NUMBER
OF HOMES
-2.000
1.500
1.000
500
0 10 20 30 40 5O 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 I3O 140 150 160 170 180 190200
ESTIMATED MONTHLY RENTAL VALUE OF HOME - DOLLARS
Estimated Rental Value of Owned Homes, Wilmington,
Delaware
Distribution of Owned Homes according to Estimated Rental Value.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
187
0)
p
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Number
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£a
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Estimated
rental
imated m
rental val
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188 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
CL>
P
I
£
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£1
I
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Value
Value
TOT
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
189
CHART IX
5.000
4,000
3.000
2.000
1.000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 20O
MONTHLY RENTAL VALUE Of HOME - DOLLARS
Rental Value of All Homes, Wilmington, Delaware
Distribution of All Homes according to Rental Value.
The number of owned homes, distributed according to estimated rental value
(Chart VIII), has been combined with the number of rented homes, dis-
tributed according to rental paid (Chart VII), and is here presented as a
single chart.
census data were tabulated for Wilmington by wards. An analysis
of these data is valuable as showing differences in composition of
the family and in value of homes in the wards having a large in-
dustrial population, as compared with the wards in which the
higher-income groups live. Wards 9, 10 and 12 were selected for
purposes of this comparison. Ward 9 is one of the best residen-
tial districts. The houses in the westerly part are mainly detached
and semi-detached. The northerly and easterly parts have many
two-story row houses of the better type. A large part of the city's
growth in recent years has been in this ward. The population of
Ward 10 is industrial. The ward includes a number of industrial
establishments. In Ward 12, the population is also largely indus-
trial. There are many two-story row houses. The ward contains
part of Union Park Gardens, a Government war-time development
of very good type.
Table VIII gives a comparison of family data for Wards 9, 10
and 12, together with similar data for Wilmington as a whole. In
190 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table VIII. Comparison of Family Types in Selected
Wards,* Wilmington, Delaware.
Ward
9
Ward
10
Ward
12
Entire
city
TOTAL NUMBER OF FAMILIES
5 727
1,524
2,440
25,543
Median size of family (related persons) :
All families
2 89
3.45
3.29
2.85
Families having native white head
Families having Negro head
Per cent of families having:
Native white head
2.80
2.21
83 4
3.22
1.80
65 6
3.09
2.05
68.9
2.73
1.95
66.9
Foreign born white head
14 0
33 6
24.8
21.0
Negro head
2 6
8
6 3
12 1
Per cent of families having:
No children under 10 ...
63 4
53 8
57 4
63.5
One child under 10
20 6
21 0
19 3
18.2
Two or more children under 10
16 0
25 2
23 3
18.3
Per cent of families living in:
One-family dwellings
85 6
87 0
87 8
80 2
Two-family dwellings
96
9 3
9 2
10 1
Multi-family dwellings
4 8
3 7
3 0
9 7
Per cent of families owning homes
62 2
48 5
49 4
45.9
Per cent of families renting homes
Per cent of owned homes valued at:
Less than $1 , 500
37.8
g
51.5
7
50.6
4
54.1
1 4
Less than 3,000
4 0
19 6
8 5
10 8
Less than 5,000
19 7
72 3
44 2
36 8
Less than 7 , 500
60 3
93 2
86 6
69.8
Less than 10,000. . .
82 6
97 9
96 1
83.9
$10,000 or more
17 4
2 1
3 9
16.1
Per cent of rented homes renting for:
Less than $15
4 3
3.5
1.3
6.8
Less than 30
32 9
61 5
41 7
46 7
Less than 50 .
73 6
96 0
92 5
83.4
Less than 100 ....
98 9
99 6
99 8
98.6
$100 or more
1 l
4
.2
1.4
Per cent of families having radio sets ....
69.5
47.8
59.5
53.6
* Wards 10 and 12 are industrial sections and ward 9 better-class residential.
Ward 9 (better-class residential) 83.4 per cent of the families have
a native white head. In Ward 10 (industrial) only 65.6 per cent
have a native white head, while 33.6 per cent have a foreign born
white head and 0.8 per cent have a Negro head. In Ward 9, 62.2
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
191
PERCEN-
or HO
50
40
30
20
10
0
rAGE *~nf\n i A
VIES
r
\
1
VAR
WAR
3 9
D 10
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--
/
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]
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s
/
,/
V
X
X
'--
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— c\i<«)«o«>t^
MONTHLY RENTAL - DOLLARS
Comparison of Rentals
in Two Selected Wards,
Wilmington, Delaware
Smoothed distribution of rented
homes according to rental paid
for Ward 9 (better-class resi-
dential) compared with similar
distribution for Ward 10 (in-
dustrial population).
per cent of the families own their homes, and in Ward 10 only
48.5 per cent. In Ward 9, 19.7 per cent of the owned homes are
valued under $5,000; while in Ward 10, 72.3 per cent of the
owned homes have a value of less than $5,000. In Ward 9, 32.9
per cent of the rented homes have a monthly rental under $30,
and in Ward 10, 61.5 per cent have a rental under $30. In Ward
9, the median size of the family (related persons only) is 2.89
persons, while in Ward 10, the family median is 3.45 persons. In
Ward 9, 63.4 per cent of the total number of families have no
children under ten years of age, while in Ward 10 only 53.8 per
cent have no children under ten years of age. In Ward 9, only
16 per cent of the families have two or more children under ten
years of age, while in Ward 10, 25.2 per cent of the families have
two or more children under ten. In Ward 9, 85.6 per cent of the
families live in single-family dwellings, while in Ward 10 this
percentage is 87. For Wilmington as a whole, the percentage of
families living in single-family dwellings is 80.2.
This comparison shows clearly the much lower income and
rental range of the families of industrial workers as compared
with families in the better residential sections or with families for
the city as a whole. It also shows somewhat larger families and
more children in the industrial sections. This may be due to the
192 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
larger percentage of foreign born. In industrial Ward 10, 33.6
per cent of the families have a foreign born head, while in Ward
9 this percentage is but 14.
Cincinnati School Census Data
In Cincinnati in 1930, 52.33 per cent of the families had no chil-
dren of school age, i.e., five to seventeen years, inclusive. Of the
total number of families, 26.6 per cent had but one child, 12.2 per
cent two children, and only 8.77 per cent of the families had three
or more children.3
The Aging of the Population
With the declining birth rate and the slowing down of the popu-
lation growth of the United States, the proportion of the popula-
tion in the various age groups under forty years is declining, and
the percentage in the age groups over forty years is gradually in-
creasing. The percentage of young people, and especially of chil-
dren, is decreasing, and the percentage of older people, especially
in the age groups from fifty-six to seventy-five, is increasing.
In 1920, 40.7 per cent of the population were children under
twenty years of age. In 1930, this percentage had decreased to
38.8 and, when the ultimate stationary population of the United
States is reached, it is expected that this percentage will be about
29. The census of 1930 shows actually fewer children under five
years of age than in 1920. This age group is now 9.3 per cent of
the total, whereas in 1920 it was 10.9 per cent.
II. Present Situation and Trend as to Dwelling Types
The Dwelling Trend as Indicated by New Construction
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has compiled
building permit statistics for 257 identical cities showing the
number and percentage of new homes 4 provided in one- family
dwellings, in two-family dwellings and in multiple dwellings by
new construction for each year beginning with 1921. (Table IX.)
8 Information supplied from an analysis of Cincinnati School Census, 1930,
by Mr. Harris Ginberg, Secretary-Treasurer of the Cincinnati Model Homes
Company, and a member of the Committee on Types of Dwellings.
4 "Home" as used here means a suite of rooms arranged for occupancy by
one family. It may be an entire one-family dwelling, one of the two suites
of a two-family dwelling or an apartment in a multiple dwelling.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
193
Table IX. Number and Per Cent of New Homes Provided
for in the Different Types of Dwellings
in 257 Identical Cities.
NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION 1921 TO 1930 INCLUSIVE*
Number of new homes provided in
Per cent of new homes provided in
Year
One-
Two-
Multi-
All
One-
Two-
Multi-
family
family
family
classes of
family
family
family
dwellings
dwellings!
dwellings J
dwellings
dwellings
dwellings!
dwellings J
1921.
130,873
38,858
54,814
224,545
58.3
17.3
24.4
1922. .
179,364
80,252
117,689
377,305
47.5
21.3
31.2
1923. .
207,632
96,344
149,697
453,673
45.8
21.2
33.0
1924. .
210,818
95,019
137,082
442,919
47.6
21.5
30.9
1925. .
226,159
86,145
178,918
491,222
46.0
17.5
36.4
1926. .
188,074
64,298
209,842
462,214
40.7
13.9
45.4
1927. ..
155,512
54,320
196,263
406,095
38.3
13.4
48.3
1928. ..
136,907
43,098
208,673
388,678
35.2
11.1
53.7
1929. . .
98,164
27,813
118,417
244,394
40.2
11.4
48.5
1930.. ..
57,318
15,145
52,859
125,322
45.7
12.1
42.2
* Monthly Labor Review, Washington, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor,
April, 1931, p. 171.
t Includes one-family and two-family dwellings with stores,
t Includes multi-family dwellings with stores.
The terms one- family dwelling, two- family dwelling and multiple
dwelling conform to the definitions adopted by this committee with
the exception of the mixed occupancies and the further exception
that the two-family dwelling classification of the bureau includes a
building in which two families live side by side and enter by a
common entrance. A store and dwelling building with either one
or two families is included with the two-family dwellings. A store
with apartments for more than two families is included with the
multiple dwellings.
Of the new homes built in 1929, 40.2 per cent were in one- family
dwellings, 11.4 per cent in two-family dwellings and 48.5 per cent
in multiple dwellings. The percentage of new homes in one-family
dwellings decreased from 58.3 in 1921 to 40.2 in 1929. During
the same period the percentage of new homes in two-family
dwellings decreased from 17.3 to 11.4. On the other hand, the
percentage in multiple dwellings increased from 24.4 to 48.5.
The most marked decrease has come in the construction of two-
family dwellings. Table IX shows that 17.3 per cent of the new
homes were in two-family dwellings in 1921 and only 11.4 per cent
were in two-family dwellings in 1929. During this period the two-
family dwelling reached its peak in 1924, and in that year ac-
194 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
counted for 21.5 per cent of the new homes constructed. Among
the large cities Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee and Boston show the
erection of a large number of two-family dwellings throughout the
period studied. In Buffalo, in 1929, 51.5 per cent of the new
homes provided were in two-family dwellings. In Detroit the per-
centage of new homes provided in two-family dwellings increased
from 17.9 in 1921 to 26.5 in 1929. For the 14 largest cities, how-
ever, the percentage of new homes in two- family dwellings de-
creased from 21.7 in 1921 to 10.3 in 1929.
Large numbers of two-family dwellings were erected in 1921 in
certain of the smaller cities, including Bethlehem, Pa. ; Bayonne,
N. J. ; East Chicago, Ind. ; Everett, Mass. ; Kearney, N. J. ; and
Watertown, Mass. In Bethlehem, the percentage of new homes
provided in two-family dwellings increased from 3.7 in 1921 to
49.2 in 1929. In Bayonne this increase was from 28.1 per cent to
44.8 per cent; in East Chicago from 31.0 per cent to 44.0 per cent.
On the other hand, in many of these smaller cities the percentage
of new homes in two- family dwellings declined.
While for the 257 identical cities the percentage of new homes
in one- family dwellings decreased from 58.3 to 40.2 between 1921
and 1929, the trend was by no means uniform for all of the cities
included. Among the 14 largest cities there were 6 cities, Balti-
more, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and San Francisco
in which the percentage of new homes in one-family dwellings re-
mained practically stationary or actually increased.5 Of the 175
independent cities of over 25,000 many show substantially no
change or any actual increase in percentage of new homes in one-
family dwellings, although the percentage for this group of cities
as a whole fell from 79.4 per cent in 1921 to 71.2 per cent in 1929.
(Table X.)
The trend toward multi-family house construction, which was
very marked from 1921 to 1928, suffered a decline in 1929 and
1930. (Table IX.) In 1921, 24.4 per cent of the homes provided
in all classes of new dwellings were in multiple dwellings. This
percentage of new homes in multiple dwellings increased quite
steadily until in 1928, 53.7 per cent of the new homes provided
6 See Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 524, Washington (U. S. Depart-
ment of Labor), U. S. Government Printing Office, October, 1930, pp. 24-30.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
195
Table X. Per Cent of New Homes Provided in Different
Types of Dwellings in Various Classes of Cities.
NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION, 1921 AND 1929
Class of city
Year
Total
new
homes
provided
Per cent of new homes provided in
One-
family
dwellings
Two-
family
dwellings*
Multi-
family
dwellings f
14 largest cities:
Population — 500,000
or moret
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
1921
1929
112,273
139,007
140,223
166,888
23,930
23,022
164,153
189,910
35,737
33,588
19,553
17,189
7,498
7,956
62,788
58,733
44.2
25.3
50.3
29.4
50.1
37.4
50.2
30.3
79.3
66.7
79.8
74.7
78.6
82.1
79.4
71.2
21.7
10.3
19.4
12.2
24.6
15.1
20.1
12.6
9.5
13.4
11.4
9.4
11.3
7.5
10.3
11.4
34.0
64.4
30.3
58.4
25.3
47.5
29.7
57.1
11.2
19.9
8.8
15.9
10.1
10.4
10.3
17.4
Metropolitan areas §:
31 central metropoli-
tan cities
57 suburban cities:
Population 25,000
or more ...
TOTAL — 31 central and
57 suburban cities. . . .
Independent cities:
46 cities:
Population 100,000
or more
65 cities:
Population 50,000-
100,000
64 cities:
Population 25,000-
50,000
TOTAL — 175 cities:
Population 25,000
or more
* Includes one-family and two-family dwellings with stores.
f Includes multi-family dwellings with stores.
t Includes Washington, D. C— population, 1930—486,869.
§ The 29 metropolitan areas recognized by the census in 1920. Population
of central city — 200,000 or more in 1920. Two of the areas, Kansas City and
Minneapolis-St. Paul, eaoh have two central cities — Kansas City, Mo., and
Kansas City, Kans., in the case of the former, and Minneapolis and St. Paul in
the case of the latter. Thus, there are 31 central cities for the 29 metropolitan
areas.
were in multiple dwellings. In 1929, this percentage fell to 48.5
per cent and in 1930 to 42.2 per cent. The year 1930 was the first
since 1925 during which more new homes were provided in one-
family dwellings than in multiple dwellings. It is too soon to tell
whether this decline in multiple dwelling construction will be tern-
196 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
porary or permanent. The general depression has enormously
reduced all building operations. The number of homes provided
by new construction in 1928 was 388,678 as against 125,322 in
1930. The average number of new homes provided in all classes
of dwellings from 1922 to 1928 inclusive was 431,729 per year.
This was a period of great building activity. The years 1921 and
1929 are probably best for comparative purposes. In 1921 accom-
modations for 224,545 families were constructed and in 1929,
accommodations for 244,394 families.
Statistics for the first six months of 1931 show an even higher
percentage of one-family dwellings than in 1921. Contract records
of the F. W. Dodge Corporation give separate statistics for one-
family houses built singly and one-family houses built in develop-
ment projects of two or more buildings each. The development
projects have declined in approximately the same proportion as
have apartments, and houses erected singly have been continued at
a better rate than the speculative projects. This is one reason for
the better relative showing of the one-family house during the
depression period.
In general.it may be assumed that the percentage of new homes
provided in one-family, two-family or multiple dwellings bears
some relation to the proportion of existing homes in each dwelling
type. However, in cities in which the proportion of the various
types of dwellings is rapidly changing, the percentage of new con-
struction in the various classes may bear little relation to the per-
centage of the various types actually existing. For example, in
Chicago, new homes provided in 1929 were distributed as follows :
14.9 per cent in one-family dwellings ; 7.2 per cent in two-family
dwellings ; and 77.9 per cent in multiple dwellings. Statistics of
the various types of dwellings existing in Chicago in 1930 show
13.4 per cent in one-family dwellings, 39.0 per cent in two-family
dwellings and 47.6 per cent in multiple dwellings. The percentage
of existing two-family dwellings, is, therefore, much larger than
the current construction of two-family dwellings ; while the exist-
ing supply of multiple dwellings is much smaller than the present
construction of multiple dwellings. Similarly, in St. Louis the
1929 new construction shows 28.5 per cent of the homes in one-
family dwellings, 12.1 per cent in two-family dwellings and 59.4
per cent in multiple dwellings. On the basis of existing dwellings
in 1930, 29.6 per cent of the homes were in one-family dwellings
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 197
(exclusive of doubles) 33.0 per cent were in two-family dwellings
(including doubles) and 38.4 per cent were in multiple dwellings.
In both St. Louis and Chicago it seems that the number of one-
family dwellings is remaining quite stationary while the percentage
of homes in two- family dwellings is decreasing and the percentage
in multiple dwellings increasing, according to figures of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics in the bulletin previously cited.
A special study of the trend of multi-family housing has been
made by Coleman Woodbury, Research Associate of the Institute
for Economic Research.6 His analysis of the building data com-
piled by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for the
period 1921 to 1928 indicates that the strong trend toward multi-
family housing during the period 1921 to 1928 was not confined
to any one or two sections of the United States but was felt in all
districts of the country ; that this movement cannot be explained as
a concomitant of the recovery from the general housing shortage
of the war, nor dismissed as a phenomenon characterizing solely
the more rapidly growing cities. Moreover, he found that the
movement was not markedly different as between industrial and
commercial cities. His study shows, however, that the increase in
multi-family construction has been more rapid in metropolitan re-
gions than in independent cities outside of the influence of large
metropolitan centers.
Accepting the conclusion of Mr. Woodbury that the increase of
multi- family construction has been more rapid in metropolitan
regions than in the independent cities outside the influence of such
regions, and desirous of testing further the relationship, if any,
between the size of a city and the apartment house trend, the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics building permit data for
1921 and 1929 were carefully analyzed. (Table X.) The cities
were divided into six groups :
1. The 14 largest cities having a population of 500,000 or more.
2. The 31 central cities located in the 29 metropolitan areas recognized
in the census of 1920.
3. 57 suburban cities, having a population of 25,000 or more, located in the
above metropolitan areas.
4. 46 independent cities having a population of 100,000 or more.
5. 65 independent cities having a population of 50,000 to 100,000.
6. 64 independent cities having a population of 25,000 to 50,000.
8 Woodbury, Coleman, "Multi-family Housing in American Cities," Journal
of Land and Public Utility Economics, August, 1930.
198 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Although there are many exceptions, an analysis of Table X
indicates clearly that, in general, the percentage of new housing
units provided for in multiple dwellings increases directly with the
population of the city, while the number of one- family units de-
creases directly with the population of the city. In the 64 cities
of 25,000 to 50,000 there was practically no increase in the per-
centage of multi-family construction during the period of 1921 to
1929. In these cities only about 10 per cent of the housing units
are provided for in multi-family houses. Of the 31 large metro-
politan cities, the percentage of new housing, units provided for in
multiple dwellings increased from 30.3 in 1921 to 58.4 in 1929.
For the same period the percentage of one-family units decreased
from 50.3 to 29.4; and the percentage of two-family units from
19.4 to 12.2.
The trend toward multi-family housing is almost as strong in
the suburban cities located in metropolitan regions as it is in the
large cities themselves. For 57 suburban cities of 25,000 or more
population, the percentage of new homes in multiple dwellings
increased from 25.3 in 1921 to 47.5 in 1929. As compared with
these suburban cities, the 46 cities outside of the metropolitan areas
having a population of 100,000 or over, show a percentage of new
units in multiple dwellings of 11.2 in 1921 and 19.9 in 1929.
The trend toward multi-family housing for metropolitan re-
gions as a whole is doubtless somewhat less than is indicated by
the building permit statistics. These statistics include cities in
metropolitan areas having a population of over 25,000. They do
not include unincorporated areas or cities and villages having a
population of less than 25,000. Doubtless these smaller communi-
ties have a higher percentage of one-family houses than the region
as a whole. There are, however, some small communities of less
than 25,000 in large metropolitan regions that have a considerable
apartment house development.
Only in the groups of independent cities of 25,000 to 50,000
was there no trend toward multi-family housing during the period
1921 to 1929. For these smaller cities the percentage of new
homes provided in multiple dwellings was 10.1 in 1921 and 10.4
in 1929. In these cities the percentage of new homes in one-family
dwellings increased from 78.6 to 82.1. This increase was entirely
due to the decrease in two-family construction. The percentage
of new homes in two- family dwellings declined from 11.3 in 1921
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 199
to 7.5 in 1929. In the 65 independent cities of 50,000 to 100,000
the percentage of new homes in multiple dwellings increased from
8.8 in 1921 to 15.9 in 1929. During the same period the percent-
age of new homes in one-family dwellings decreased from 79.8 to
74.7; and the percentage of new homes in two-family dwellings
from 11.4 to 9.4. In the group of independent cities of 100,000
or more, the percentage of new homes provided in multiple dwell-
ings increased from 11.2 in 1921 to 19.9 in 1929. During the same
period the percentage of new homes provided in one-family dwell-
ings decreased from 79.3 to 66.7. This was the only population
group to show an increase in the percentage of homes provided in
two-family dwellings. This increase was from 9.5 per cent in 1921
to 13.4 per cent in 1929.
In so far as cities outside of metropolitan regions are concerned,
the percentage of new homes provided in multiple dwellings is
small in comparison with the number provided in one-family
dwellings. The percentage of new homes provided in multiple
dwellings in 1929 was about 10 for cities of 25,000 to 50,000,
about 16 for cities of 50,000 to 100,000, and about 20 for cities of
100,000 or more. The small city outside of the influence of metro-
politan centers is still primarily a one-family house city. The
apartment houses have made some progress in the cities of 50,000
to 100,000 and still more in the group of independent cities of
more than 100,000. But there is a marked difference between the
importance of the multiple dwelling in all these groups of inde-
pendent cities as compared with either the suburban cities or the
large central cities of the metropolitan regions.
Some Reasons for the Apartment Trend in Metropolitan
Regions
In a city of 50,000 to 300,000 people, the surface transit lines
radiate in all directions and furnish convenient transportation to
homes in practically every section of the city. When, however,
the city becomes a part of a large metropolitan region, and rapid
transit facilities are provided with opportunity of access only at
stations located at some distance from one another, the land most
conveniently located for residential purposes is limited to the
area within about a quarter mile of the rapid transit and suburban
railroad stations. This factor is doubtless of immense importance
200 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
in the marked trend in metropolitan centers toward the multiple
dwelling.
Factors that have increased the trend toward apartment house
living in metropolitan regions include the disappearance of the
neighborhood or community as a civic and social center. There is
less pride in home ownership and less centering of the activities of
the family in the home. Convenience of location and simplifica-
tion of housekeeping arrangements are prime considerations.
Many families that move to the suburbs in order to get away
from the noise and congestion of the central areas are quite satis-
fied to live in a suburban apartment. In fact, inasmuch as removal
to a suburb requires the spending of more time on the train, it is
all the more important to economize on time in going to and from
the station and in work about the house.
To a large extent the modern apartment house seems to have
developed not because families could not obtain one-family houses
but because the one- family houses available were for sale, not for
rent, or were obsolete in arrangement and equipment or were not in
a convenient location, or were not in socially desirable neighbor-
hoods. A one-family home in a highly restricted suburban com-
munity costs more than many families can afford. They can, how-
ever, secure an apartment in a high-class, modern building in a
socially desirable neighborhood.
The mobility of labor is greater in a metropolitan region than
in an independent city. The worker may find employment in any
part of the region. A shift in employment from one suburb to
another usually means a shift in home location. Moreover, the
large metropolitan city is usually an administrative center for
several states. The officers and employees of corporations and
institutions having their headquarters there are often transferred
to other cities. This possibility of transfer makes it unwise for
many men who could otherwise do so to invest in a permanent
home. So instead of buying a home they rent an apartment.
Effect of High Land Values
High land values have had a strong influence on apartment
house construction in the larger cities. The land in the old one-
family house sections adjacent to the business center acquires a
speculative value for future business or hotel use long in advance
of the actual approach of business buildings. The prospective en-
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 201
croachment of business, together with the increasing traffic, noise
and smoke, makes the neighborhood undesirable for one-family
homes. Nevertheless, the convenience of the location to places of
work at the center makes the section desirable to many families.
Multiple dwellings are therefore erected. These high buildings,
housing many families and covering seventy per cent or more of
the lot area, in turn still further increase the land values.
Home versus Apartment Living
In an inquiry to discover the reason for the selection of an apart-
ment in preference to a one-family house, 1,300 families living in
apartments in Detroit were questioned. Of these families, 28.1
per cent stated that they liked apartment living very much, 50.4
per cent stated that they were fairly well satisfied, and 21.5 per
cent stated that they did not like the apartment as a place in which
to live. In answer to another query as to whether, if it were pos-
sible to obtain a one- family home with all modern improvements
in a suburban garden community at a cost no greater than the
present apartment rental, they would prefer such one-family
house to an apartment, 64.5 per cent stated that they would prefer
such a one-family home, and 35.5 per cent that they would still
prefer the apartment. Of the 64.5 per cent that indicated a prefer-
ence for the one-family home, a large number stated the welfare
of the children as a controlling consideration. Many more gave as
a reason open space and opportunity for out-of-door activity. Of
the 35.5 per cent that still preferred the apartment under these
assumed conditions, most of the reasons had to do with con-
venience, less housework and responsibility, and more leisure. Of
the families with children, 76 per cent preferred the one-family
house and only 24 per cent the apartment. However, of the fami-
lies with the wife working outside the home, only 52.5 per cent
preferred the one-family house, and 47.5 per cent the apartment.
In response to a question as to whether living in an apartment
or in a one-family home owned by the occupant would tend to
promote or have a better influence on neighborliness and neigh-
borhood friendships, physical, mental and moral growth and de-
velopment of children, and increase of civic interest and spirit, the
answers were overwhelmingly in favor of the one-family house.7
7 Herman, S. James, Why Do You Live in an Apartment? — A Study of a
Sinister Trend in American Life, Detroit, Michigan Housing Association,
1931.
202 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Home Ownership versus Renting
A questionnaire to determine the attitudes of families in the
Chicago region toward home ownership and tenancy was dis-
tributed by Coleman Woodbury, and an analysis of the results pub-
lished in the Institute's Journal. The questions were answered by
1,882 families. Fifty-three and nine-tenths per cent of the families
were owners and 46.1 per cent renters. Of the home renters, 60.3
per cent lived in apartment houses or apartment hotels, 23.8 per cent
in two-family houses, and 15.4 per cent in one-family houses. Of
the families included in the survey, 29.7 per cent had incomes of
$5,000 or more, 33 per cent had incomes between $1,800 and
$3,000, and only 20.9 per cent had incomes under $1,800. It is
evident, therefore, that the families selected did not include a suf-
ficient number in the lower-income groups to give a fair cross-
section of the population.
Among the reasons given for home ownership, the welfare of
the children ranked first and the safety of an investment in a home
ranked second. Among the reasons for tenancy, first rank seems
to be given to the economy of renting as compared with home
ownership. Almost equal importance, however, is given to the
greater freedom and mobility of tenancy as compared with home
ownership. Closely related to this same reason was that of the
fixity of the investment in the home, and the difficulty of realizing
on the investment.
Of the renters, 53 per cent stated that they would like to become
home owners, and only 14 per cent of the owners admitted a desire
to sell and become tenants.8
Fewer Children in Apartments
Available statistics indicate fewer children in apartments than
in one- family houses. A study of modern apartment houses in
New Rochelle and of adjacent one-family houses was made by
Paul A. Bankson, city plan engineer of New Rochelle in 1928.
The apartment rentals averaged about $30 per room, so that the
housing is for families very much above the lower-income levels.
The number of children per family was 0.4 for the apartments
and approximately 1.5 for the houses. In other words, there were
almost four times as many children per family living in the one-
8 Woodbury, Coleman, "Apartment House Increases and Home Owner-
ship," Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, August, 1931.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS
203
Table XI. Correlation of Age Groups of Children and
Types of Dwellings in Evanston.
Age groups
Single-family
dwellings
Two-family
dwellings
Apartments
0-5 years
25%
34%
37%
6-14 years
49%
47%
41%
15-20 years
26%
19%
22%
family houses as in the apartments. This is, perhaps, an excep-
tional case and would not apply to the whole apartment house pop-
ulation of a normal, nonsuburban city where any considerable
proportion of the population of the city were housed in apart-
ments.
An inventory of housing made for Evanston, Illinois, shows 46
per cent of the families living in one-family dwellings, 16 per cent
in two- family dwellings and 38 per cent in apartments. Of a
sample of 12,798 children under twenty-one years of age in Evan-
ston, 57 per cent lived in one-family dwellings, 17 per cent in two-
family dwellings, and 26 per cent in apartments ; that is, with 46
per cent of the families living in one-family dwellings, 57 per cent
of the children lived in such dwellings. A smaller number of chil-
dren in apartments in Evanston is also shown by the fact that the
size of the family is 3.8 persons for one- family dwellings, 3.6 per-
sons for two-family dwellings, and 2.9 persons for apartments.9
Dr. Herman's 10 investigation covering 1,300 families living in
apartments in Detroit shows 50.8 per cent of the families with no
children and 49.2 per cent with children. Of the 660 families with
children, 48.7 per cent have but one child; 29 per cent, two chil-
dren; 15 per cent three children; and only 7.3 per cent more than
three children. Of the families in which the homemaker was em-
ployed outside the home, 77 per cent were childless.
A study of 1,882 families in the Chicago region shows a much
greater proportion of childless families among renter families than
among owner families. Twenty-two per cent of the owner fami-
lies had no children, and 44.7 per cent of the renter families had
no children. Of the owner families, 54.4 per cent had two or
9 Hinman, Albert G., "An Inventory of Housing in a Suburban City,'
Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, May, 1931.
10 Op. cit.
204 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
more children, and 29.7 per cent of the renter families had two
or more children. Of the renter families, 60.3 per cent lived in
apartment houses, 23.8 per cent in two-family houses, and only
15.4 per cent in one-family houses. However, the difference in
number of children among home renters and home owners is pri-
marily a difference between families living in multiple dwellings
and families living in other types of dwellings. Renters living
in one- and two- family dwellings had almost as many children as
the home owners. Only 29.1 per cent of the renters of one-family
houses were childless, while 45.5 per cent had two or more
children.11
Children of Preschool Age
There are some indications that the apartment is considered less
harmful to very young children than to older children ; at least a
common experience seems to be for a young married couple to
live in an apartment house for 2 or 3 years after the birth of their
first child. When the child needs more robm for play, the advan-
tage of the one-family house becomes more marked. This fact is
brought out in Mr. Hinman's analysis of a house survey of
Evanston. Mr. Hinman states:
"Another interesting fact is secured by dividing these children and young
people into three age groups : Up to five years, representing roughly the pre-
school group ; six to fourteen years, the grade school group ; and fifteen to
twenty years, the high-school and junior college group. ... A larger pro-
portion in the youngest-age group live in apartments than in single-family
dwellings, while the case is exactly the reverse in the older-age group. When
children are very young, they do not go to school nor play out-of-doors alone
to any great extent and they can sleep in the same room with their parents.
As they grow older, go to school, play out-of-doors alone, and need rooms
of their own, the greater amount of living space within and playspace with-
out a single-family dwelling becomes very desirable. This is probably the
explanation of the situation.
"While type of dwelling is thus adjusted to some extent to the ages of
children, yet in general the large family and many children do not accompany
the development of apartment life. Thus one might ask whether the apart-
ment is contributing toward the oft-mentioned declining birth rate and
smaller family or whether the declining birth rate and smaller family are
contributing to the apartment movement." M
uWoodbury, Coleman, "Apartment House Increases and Home Owner-
ship," Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, August, 1931.
13 Op. cit.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 205
In Dr. Herman's study of the reasons for the apartment house
trend in Detroit, covering about 1,300 apartments, it was found
that of the total number of children, 29.6 per cent were of pre-
school age, 52.4 per cent of school age, and 18 per cent past school
age. Here the percentage of children of preschool age, though
higher than the Evanston percentage for one-family houses, is not
as high as the Evanston percentage for apartment houses.13
Of 1,882 families reported in the Chicago region, 28.6 per cent
of the owner families had lived in their present home for less than 5
years, and 77.7 per cent of the tenant families had lived in the
present home for less than 5 years. As 60.3 per cent of the tenant
families lived in multiple dwellings, these percentages show clearlv
the relative impermanence of the apartment house dweller.14
The Gainfully Employed Homemaker
Dr. Herman's Detroit study of 1,300 families living in apart-
ments, shows that in 23 per cent of the total number of families, the
wife or homemaker is employed outside the home.15 In Wilming-
ton, Delaware, the United States census for 1930 shows the home-
maker employed outside the home in 13.7 per cent of the total
number of families having a homemaker.
Among the low-income class there have always been a great
many married women wage earners. The homemaking and child
care function has been sacrificed in order to maintain a meager
standard of living.
At present in the middle-income group, more and more married
women are turning to gainful occupations outside the home. The
main occupation of these women is no longer that of homemaker.
This is due in part to facilities and services that have simplified
the job of housekeeping and in part to the desire of women for a
career and for economic independence ; also, in part, to the neces-
sity of increasing the family income in order to be able to attain
a desired living standard.
Multiple Dwellings in Smaller Cities
The increase in the number of multiple dwellings in cities out-
side of the large metropolitan regions has been influenced largely
18 Ibid.
14 Woodbury, Coleman, "Apartment House Increases and Home Owner-
ship," Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, August, 1931.
15 Op. cit.
206 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Table XII. House Value, Rentals, and Percentage of Fami-
lies in Each Value or Rental Group, Middletown.
Value of house
Monthly rental
Per cent of total families
Less than $2,500
$10-$25
27
$2 , 500-4 ,500
25- 40
44
4,500-7,000
40- 55
22
7 000 and over
55 up
7
100
by an increase in the number of higher-income families who look
upon the particular city as a more or less temporary residence, and
by the very considerable number of individuals and families of
adults in every city that, for one reason or another, find the modern
apartment more suited to their needs than the one-family home.
The present trend toward a nation-wide organization of business
and industry requires the shifting of executives and managers from
city to city. This doubtless aids the trend toward multiple dwell-
ings. Desirable one-family houses being only for sale, it increases
the demand in each city for high-class apartments to serve the
needs of managers and executives that do not look upon the city
as a permanent place of residence. A young married man in such
an organization may reduce his opportunities for advancement by
purchasing a home. It will be more difficult for him to take ad-
vantage of opportunities that would require removal to another
city.
A study was made by Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd of a typical
industrial town in the North Central states.16 Middletown, the
name applied to the town selected, has a population of 38,000.
Eighty-six per cent of the families live in one-family dwellings, 10
per cent in two-family dwellings, 1 per cent in apartments, and 3
per cent in dwellings over stores. Seventy-five per cent of the
homes have running water, and 66.7 per cent have sewer connec-
tion. The authors state that most of the workers' houses have no
furnaces. The house lots are normally 40 feet in width. The
streets in the poorer residence sections are unpaved. The esti-
18 Lynd, Robert S., and Helen M., Middletoivn — A Study in Contemporary
American Culture, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929.
FAMILY TYPES AND HOUSING TRENDS 207
mated value of the house, the estimated rentals, and the percentage
of families in each value or rental group are shown in Table XII.
Middletown is doubtless typical of many industrial cities of under
50,000 population located outside of the large metropolitan regions.
There is little demand for apartments. The one-family dwelling
is the predominant type for all classes of the population.
APPENDIX II
LAND VALUE AND ITS EFFECT UPON TYPES
OF DWELLINGS1
The continued increase in the cost of land has been the usual
reason advanced to explain the growing intensity of the use of
land. In other words, as land becomes more expensive, it appears
that less land can be set aside for the use of a single family. Land,
which has advanced in price beyond what the average family can
afford to pay, tends to be withheld from use. The average family
is, therefore, either compelled to seek cheaper land or, in combina-
tion with other families, to use the land jointly so as to pay the
return required on the price of the land. Expensive land, there-
fore, is restricted to the individual use of families who can afford
to pay the price, or to the joint use of enough families in a lower-
income group so that the total required return may be made up by
the group of families.
This tendency of land to exact a return on the price at which
it is held has been largely responsible for the congestion and over-
crowding of our urban centers during the past century. It has
also had a direct influence in changing the character of our dwell-
ings. The reduction in the size of lot has affected the design of
the one-family house, restricting its width and limiting the desir-
able arrangements of the rooms. Row single-family dwellings,
semi-detached houses, two-family houses and finally multi-family
forms have evolved in the effort to make the land yield a return
commensurate with the price assigned to it. A great many indi-
vidual homes in all economic grades and in various parts of the
country have been sold for land value only and replaced by more
intensive types of housing, and many dwellings which are no
longer desirable for those who can afford them have been made to
yield a return by crowding several families into them.
There is a need for scientific research into the economic rela-
tionship between land values, housing types, and the rental equiva-
lent. At the present time we have insufficient knowledge of what
aThis subject was discussed by the committee. The preparation of a
statement was assigned to and undertaken by Mr. Arthur C. Holden, a mem-
ber of the committee. This statement was reviewed and revised by the
committee and adopted as an appendix to its report.
208
EFFECT OF LAND VALUE UPON TYPES OF DWELLINGS 209
the effect of the advance in the price of land, if continued indefi-
nitely, will have upon housing types and upon rents. Recent de-
velopments in the building industry indicate that much scientific
research is being carried on with a view to reducing the cost of
construction. It is too soon to say what the immediate effect of
this work will be or to what changes it may ultimately lead. It can
be said, however, that the recognition by the building industry of
the necessity for reducing the cost of its product will undoubtedly
lead to parallel studies in land utilization. The building industry
is bound ultimately to recognize that it cannot succeed in reducing
the cost of its product if, in the face of reducing construction
costs, land costs continue to mount.
Many builders have taken a paradoxical position with regard to
the cost of land. They have found by experience that loaning
organizations will give them more liberal loans on high-priced land
than on low-priced land and, therefore, they prefer to reduce the
size of the lot and place as many houses as possible upon expensive
land. It is self-evident that where the developing builder is de-
pendent upon sale, this is a better proposition for him than to build
a smaller number of houses on cheaper land, where he is unable to
secure an advantageous loan and, therefore, compelled to enlist a
larger proportion of his own capital.
On the other hand, there is a growing tendency on the part of
the building industry to avoid expensive land which has already
been developed and to seek cheaper land where the development
of the land becomes a part of the building operation. This move-
ment of the building industry in search of cheaper land is a mani-
festation of the natural economic forces which operate to keep
down the price of land, by continually bringing new land into the
market in competition with already developed land. Since the
advent of the trolley car, American cities have tended to grow out
into the suburbs constantly seeking new and cheaper land. The
popularization of the modern motor car with the good roads
which have been necessitated, has brought a phenomenal amount
of new land within the range of the home seeker. This has had a
very definite effect upon land nearer to the urban centers. This
new land has competed with previously developed land to the lat-
ter's disadvantage. The price of centrally located land has not yet
reflected the great increase in the amount of available land, though
the marketability of such land has suffered.
210 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
In New York City, where land values have reached their highest
point, certain tendencies are more apparent than elsewhere. It has
been found that land cannot be developed in intensity to a point
where its desirability suffers, without causing the value of the land
itself to suffer. In the blighted tenement section, known as the
Lower East Side, realty values have been falling to a point where
the holders of the underlying first mortgages have found it advis-
able to organize for the protection of their interests. In these days
of modern rapid transit, realty values in a blighted neighborhood
cannot be maintained in the face of an increasing supply of new
land.
It is in New York City that another modern piece of equipment,
namely, the high speed electric elevator, has demonstrated that it
has an effect upon land values very different from that which at
first seemed evident. Of course, the introduction of the elevator
made it possible to carry buildings to greater height than previously
practical. It appeared, therefore, that a way had been found to
justify existing prices of land and to make land increasingly valu-
able. Now, after less than a half century of practical experience
with the skyscraper and less than thirty years of experience with
the residential skyscraper, it has become evident that the value
which appears to reside in the land upon which a skyscraper stands
is acquired by drawing away from surrounding land a large part of
the possible use to which it might be put. We have now learned
to carry buildings high enough so that their erection, except in the
case of certain few important business centers, virtually precludes
the possibility of developing the adjoining land in a similar man-
ner. We may conclude, therefore, that those economic forces
which are encouraging developers to bring new land into use and
which are vastly increasing the usability of lands already in use
are, by multiplying the available supply, in reality reducing the
values we have set upon land, and showing us that the data upon
which we have based these values were faulty and incomplete.
The public does not get the benefit of those economic forces
tending to increase the supply of land because such a large number
of individuals are the victims of misunderstanding. The public
has assumed that land values must continually rise and that the
continued increase in the intensity of the use of land is justification
of its price. It has been this fear on the part of the public that
EFFECT OF LAND VALUE UPON TYPES OF DWELLINGS 211
land will go still higher, that has kept up the demand for land, and
therefore, kept up its price.
The real value of land is something very much apart from price.
It represents the capitalized value of the greatest possible use that
can be made of land. Land cannot be used to a greater extent
than warranted by the needs of society. An increase in the sup-
ply of available land does not change the total use to which land
is put, although it may change the availability of one piece of land
in comparison with the availability of another. The average value
of land, however, falls when the supply is increased, unless society
is able at the same time to increase the use which it can make of
land. The increased productivity of large farms in the Middle
West reduced the value of most of the farm lands in New Eng-
land.
Our modern cities are living demonstrations that unregulated
development brings chaos and the destruction of values. Most
city land is carried at a high price because of the hope that po-
tentially all city land can be developed up to the level of the
greatest intensity of use. Two years ago some German architects
made a tour of our leading cities. They photographed our sky-
scrapers and published them in a most interesting book. They
were astonished to find that, almost universally, blighted areas
with low buildings bordered directly upon districts built up with
skyscrapers. They enjoyed photographing the towering bulk of
the new America over the drab roofs and alleys which furnished
such a striking contrast.
Americans have realized this paradox. They have appreciated
the necessity for controlling the skyscraper. They have intro-
duced zoning as a means for controlling, in the public interest,
the density of the use of land. Zoning has stood the test of the
courts. At the outset, the attempt to regulate by zoning was con-
fronted with standards of density already prevailing in various
localities. In districts where density of use was already estab-
lished and the price of land high, the restrictions possible through
zoning could not be drawn so rigorously as to impose immediate
hardship. On the other hand, in adjoining districts, the income
from properties was in most cases adversely affected by the greater
desirability of the high buildings. As a result, any attempt to
impose a greater restriction met with opposition because it ap-
peared to lessen the likelihood of recouping from a future intensive
212 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
development. Hence, zoning standards have of necessity been
limited by expediency.
Where zones limited in area have been set, in which high density
has been allowed, these zones have enjoyed monopoly values. The
price of land has, therefore, tended to increase and, as a result,
all new developments have tended to approximate the maximum
allowed by law. Where high densities have been permitted over
large areas, including undeveloped areas adjoining skyscraper dis-
tricts, the tendency has been for the development of these adjoin-
ing areas to lie dormant, the land being held for a price calcu-
lated upon maximum permitted density which obviously cannot
take place until the demand for space becomes adequate to war-
rant the development of a whole area up to the legal limits of
density.
Zoning has been compelled, in order not to be held discrim-
inatory, to treat all owners of similar properties alike. The size
of plot has produced a most difficult situation. The New York
zoning ordinance, which was the original model zoning measure,
was based upon plot sizes prevailing in 1916. Since that time,
plot sizes have greatly increased. As a result, the original set-
backs and tower provisions applied to larger buildings have been
found to permit a bulk which the designers of the law hardly
dreamed would be possible. In the effort not to discriminate
against the small lot, too many zoning regulations still permit lot-
line liberties which are both detrimental to the public interest and
harmful to adjoining property owners. Great as are the possi-
bilities of zoning and much as has already been accomplished,
present allowed standards of density, in too many instances, are
still far beyond the limits of desirability. Opinion still lags be-
hind economic facts. The price of land still exercises far more
control over zoning than the standards set by zoning have yet
been able to exercise over price. A control which will tend to
keep down the price and prevent exploitation will encourage bet-
ter standards of use and, as a result, better types of housing.
There is the need for a new type of planning and development
and possibly even a new principle to be introduced into zoning regu-
lations. This will compel the planning of neighborhoods in larger
units. It will curb the destructive forces which still are generated
under present usage. Under the new method of regulation, less
emphasis will be placed upon restricting individual plots and, in-
EFFECT OF LAND VALUE UPON TYPES OF DWELLINGS 213
stead, a premium will be put upon group and neighborhood plan-
ning. As a prelude to this, it may be expedient to tighten restric-
tions upon individual plots to the end that these restrictions may
be relaxed in cases where owners either unite or cooperate to
utilize land advantageously by concentrating buildings only where
desirable conditions are created by providing also for adequate
open spaces, and by planning whole neighborhoods so as to pro-
vide permanent light and air and permanent desirability. In
brief, this means the revamping of much of our zoning theory and
the rewriting of standards in the interest of the public benefit in-
stead of in the interest of the exploitation of individual plots of
land. Such standards will have a very definite effect upon the
type of dwelling in which the Americans of the future are to live.
But such standards cannot be achieved unless there is also to be
a revision in our present practice of land taxation. Tax asses-
sors have seen in high buildings an indication of higher land values.
They have been alert to increase assessments not only upon the
land on which high buildings stand, but also upon adjoining prop-
erty. There is little doubt but that these adjoining properties
have felt the pressure of the higher taxes and as a result have been
held for prices adequate to compensate the owners for the expense
of carrying them. Hence our method of assessing properties has
had its influence in retarding their development and then forcing
the ultimate development to the limits of allowed density. The
English system which bases its tax rate on the use value of the land
has a less burdensome effect upon those who are carrying proper-
ties and does not, at least to such an extent as our own system, in-
fluence owners to overdevelop.
Open land is a distinct advantage to a community, especially if
properly maintained. Too frequently the American tax assessor
forces the destruction of open spaces. Over and over again we
hear the story that a golf course, a farm, or a nursery is to be di-
vided up into building lots because high taxes have made their
maintenance impossible. Were the tax based upon use or earn-
ings, the open space might be maintained. It is to the public
interest to assist semi-public organizations to maintain open spaces
within the great centers of population. The principle of tax
limitation which has been tried for the purpose of stimulating
housing and other desirable enterprises might very well be applied
214 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
to organizations which will contract to maintain desirable open
spaces.
There is, however, a principle which must be enacted into law
so that the principle of tax limitation may not be abused and made
a means for the systematic evasion of taxes on properties carried
over long periods. Many communities have had unhappy experi-
ences with tax exempt properties. Churches, hospitals, and re-
ligious and educational institutions, as is well known, have long
been exempt from the realty tax. These organizations are per-
mitted, however, to sell their properties without compensation to
the community for the assistance they have had through tax
exemption. There is the growing need for an increment tax to
be levied upon tax-exempt properties at the time of their sale.
The imposition of such a tax would tend to equalize the tax bur-
den. It would serve as a deterrent upon sales. It would give
owners adjacent to a desirable open project, such as a golf course,
or a private park, a reasonable assurance of its continuance and,
in the event of partial or total sale, the increment tax would tend
to equalize the tax burden. Under such a provision, private
parks and open spaces should be stimulated and living conditions
improved.
There is a crying need for research in the field of land economics
and the study of its effect upon building types as well as general
city development. Definite data are lacking for presentation in
this report. The following important observations are recorded
by the committee as suggestions leading to more definite studies :
1. The real or economic value of a piece of land is the capitalized value of
its earning power considered in relation to all other available land.
2. The market price of a piece of land does not necessarily give an accurate
index of its real value, as other factors, such as opinion or an artificially
stimulated demand, may temporarily affect the price.
3. Speculation in new land and in old land capable of more intensive use
has created a temporary market for the sale of certain lands out of line with
their true value.
4. The overdevelopment of a piece of land, when it leads to congestion and
undesirability, ultimately reacts to reduce the value and ultimately the price
of that land.
5. That land is most stable in value which is improved in such a way that
the improvement upon it does not tend to grow less desirable, either through
the depreciation of the building itself or the depreciation of the neighborhood
in which it stands.
6. High land values tend to limit the range of improvements upon resi-
EFFECT OF LAND VALUE UPON TYPES OF DWELLINGS 215
dential land which are possible without sacrificing the desirability of the land.
7. Low land values tend to widen the range of possible improvements upon
residential land, and make it possible to offer superior facilities at a lower
price with a likelihood of finding a greater number of families able to afford
the accommodations offered.
8. In addition to the natural economic forces which are tending to keep
down land values, a growing understanding of the new housing science and
the more stable return to be derived from building for desirability and for
long-range investment should lessen the desire to speculate in land. This
will influence the stabilization of land values at lower levels.
9. There is a need for research that will work out definitely desirable
types of buildings which will be economic in the various ranges of land
values, which will be capable of large-scale administration, which will main-
tain their desirability and which will attract capital for investment on an
income basis. Already, progress has been made along these lines as ex-
emplified by large-scale housing projects such as the development of the City
Housing Corporation at Sunnyside, Long Island, and Radburn in New
Jersey, that of the Buhl Foundation in Pittsburgh, and the work of the
Amalgamated Garment Workers in New York.
APPENDIX III
DIAGRAMS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF TYPES
AND VARIETIES OF DWELLINGS1
ONE-FAMILY DWELLINGS
Intended for the occupancy of a Sirujle Family from
basement to roof, with independent access to the land.
a. DETACHED
With open space on all four aides.
K SEMI-DETACHED
One wall of the house is a
party wall built on the lot line.
Open space on the remaining three sides.
c.
ROW
both side walls are
parftj walls built on the lot line.
Open spaces at front 4, rear.
d. CROUP Row
5et backs $. variations of mass
permit light on three sides and
preserve independent use of UruL
1 This appendix, prepared by Mr. Arthur C. Holden, a member of the com-
mittee, sets forth his conception of the types and varieties of dwellings. It is
not in entire accord with the views of the members of the committee. (See
reference at the bottom of page 147 and the top of page 150, Chapter III.)
216
DIAGRAMS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF TYPES OF DWELLINGS 217
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS
TUJO Families placed one above the other, usually
uiih access to the land enjoyed jointly.
a. DETACHED
With open spate on all Poor sides.
b. SEMI-DETACHED
Two 2rFamil«j House* joined b«j a |>artij *all
onthelot line with li^ht 4- air on three sides
and separate entrances for each
c. ROW.
Three or more 2- Family Houses joined by
party vial's on the lot lines. This variety
is related to the multi- family duelling
d. GROUP ROW
Three or more Z,- Family Houses joined txj
party walls and uta^^ered to provide l«ght
<V oir at sides as well as front $ r*Qr-
e. MIXED USE
frequently devoted to mix«d use, the first floor being occupied
uhollw orpartialfu bu shops or other non residential use.
218 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
MULTIPLE DWELLINGS
Intended for the use of 3 or more Famlltas, usually
with common use of .stair halls, entrances 4 open spaces.
121 STAGE
NARROW LOT VARIETIES
Developed from Detached 4 R°w 2-Family House
3- FAMILY
An expansion of the
£•* Family house.
4 -FAMILY
- Family houses served
b«j common entrance 4 'tair hoi I.
6- FAMILY
Two 3- family houses served 04
common entrances $ stair halls. This
and its 4(.si-orij van ant for 8 families
are still common throughout 1he U S.
Row FLATS
The row flat, built up to the lot line,
with unlisted interior rooms, out lou«di
itself by provoking legislation setting
minimom s'izes for courts
DIAGRAMS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF TYPES OF DWELLINGS 219
MULTIPLE DWELLINGS
STAGE
CITY PLOTTAGE VARIETIES
Developed by new arrangements of outside walls
and interior rooms through more intensive planning,
influenced by establishing of le^d minimum standards
for egress and sizes of courts and yard*.
VARIATIONS ARISE DUE To:-
A. ARRANGEMENT OF THE BUILDINGS ON THE, PLOTTAGE,.
"L"-Plan "T^-Plan " IF- Plan
B. METHODS OF INTERIOR ACCESS AND EGRESS.
HORIZONTAL ACCESS -For low build Iny.usualty of nonfireproof
con struct ion, th« first tendency h/as to aconomae. in.
stairs and elevator* by using lon<3 interior public halls
for accai.a to individual
VERTICAL ACCES5 .-Tall fireproof oj>artmnts hav« been
produced bij the steel frame and the elevator
with the recent tendency to eliminate lon^ interior
public halls in both hi^h and low buildings.
220 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
MULTIPLE DWELLINGS
32 STAGE
LARGE -SCALE, PROJECTS
The Vorieti«» ares —
A. GARDEN APARTMENTS.
Concent rot ion of Courts and \arcU
into large open spaces is possible,
facilitating the planning of apartments
two room* deep with permanent li^ht
and o'tr circulation.
B, FlRE PROOF AND
TOWER. APARTMENTS .
Possibility of increased height
permits greater open spaces between
individual tower op art me ni units.
c. SUBURBAN APARTMENTS.
True .Suburban apartments of
garden or tower t^pe ore often
confused with apartment*
for city plottage
(shoun above) which are
invading the suburbs.
INDEX
Academy Housing Corporation, 71
Achinstein, A., 61fn
Adams, Thomas, 155fn, 166fn
Age of breadwinners at time of home
purchase and in 1930, 789 Buffalo
families, 88-89, (table) 89
Age of houses, Buffalo, 789 prop-
erties (table), 81
Amalgamated Bank, 64, 71
Amalgamated Clothing Workers
Credit Union, 64
Amalgamated Dwellings, 70-71
Amalgamated Garment Workers, 215
Amalgamated Housing Corporation :
61, 63, 65; projects of, 70-71
Apartment houses : adaptation of,
for children, 164 ; as related to
community, 42-43 ; building, prob-
lems in, 36-37 ; buying, problems
in, 36-37 ; community need for, 42-
43 ; cost of, to city, 43 ; demand
for, reasons for, 161-62; fireproof
and tower (diagram), 220; garden
(diagram), 220; lot coverage re-
strictions for, 43; suburban (dia-
gram), 220. See also Dwellings,
multiple
Apartments: advantages of, 172;
number and percentage of, in Buf-
falo (table), 78; number of chil-
dren in, 202-5; number of pre-
school age children in, 204-5 ; rea-
sons for living in, 201 ; rental
market for, 41-42; trend toward,
2, 197-99; trend toward, reasons
for, 199-200
Architectural Record, 161fn
Assessment, present method of, as
cause of increased density, 213-14
Atlanta, Ga., 136
Attics, number of, in 789 Buffalo
houses, 79-80
Baltimore, Md., 62, 194
Bankson, Paul A., 202
Bathrooms, number of, in 789 Buf-
falo houses (table), 81
Bayonne, N. J., 194
Bedrooms, number of, in houses of
789 Buffalo families (table), 81
Berkeley, Calif., 60, 66
Berlin Statistical Bureau, 67
Bethlehem, Pa., 194
Better Homes in America: 56;
demonstrations, low-cost houses in,
74-75
Birmingham, Ala. : 135, 136 ; low-
cost housing in, 73
Blighted areas: frequency of, adja-
cent to skyscrapers, 211 ; rehabili-
tation of, study recommended, 174
Booms, real estate, 16-17
Boston, Mass., 31, 66, 151, 170, 194
Bridgeport, Conn., group two-family
houses in (illus.), facing 150
Briefs, property, advantages of, 11
Brissenden, P. F., 58fn
Brooklyn Garden Apartments, 71
Brumbaugh, Martin A., 47fn, 76fn,
lllfn
Budget: family, effect of home pur-
chase on, 789 Buffalo families, 98-
99, (chart) 100, (table) 99; studies
recommended, 53
Budgeting for home purchase, 23-24
Buffalo, N. Y.: 46, 47, 49, 53, 151,
194; case study of ten home pur-
chasing families in, 126-34; case
study — summary tabulation, 132-
33; frontage of lots in 789 prop-
erties, 78-79, (table) 79; garage
data, 789 properties, 79, (table) 80 ;
population of, 76; reasons for se-
lection of, for study, 46; two-
family income bungalows in (il-
lus.), facing 147; types of houses
in, 1930, (table), 78
Buffalo home ownership study: 76-
125 ; analysis of data, 102-25 ; con-
clusions, 48-53; conclusions, quali-
fication of some, suggested, lllfn-
113fn; conditions of sampling in,
76-77; description of property
studied, 77-81 ; family occupation,
earning and composition, 88-97 ;
financing, 82-88 ; history and cost
of property, 81-82; house materials
in, 78; summary, 122-25
Buhl Foundation, 161fn, 173, 215
Business cycle and home ownership,
12-18
Cambridge, Mass., 31
Camp, summer, as illustrating open
building, 155-56
Carpenter, Niles, 47fn, 126fn
Cellars, number of, in 789 Buffalo
houses, 79-80
Chester, Pa., low-cost housing in, 74
Chicago, 111., 59, 60, 62, 63, 196, 197,
202, 203, 205
221
222 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Children : as primary consideration
in housing, 162-64 ; correlation of
age groups of, and types of dwell-
ings, Evanston (table), 203; num-
ber of, in apartments, 202-5 ; num-
ber of, in renter families, Chicago,
202-3; preschool age, number of,
in apartments, 204-5
Cincinnati, Ohio: low-cost housing
enterprises in, 72; school census
data, 192
Cincinnati Model Homes Company,
192fn
City Housing Corporation, 215
City planning : as safeguard to home
purchase, 6, 26-27; effect of, on
land values, 153-54; study of, from
home ownership point of view,
recommended, 8
Cleveland, Ohio: 142, 194; low-cost
housing in, 72-73
Community : as related to apart-
ment house, 42-43 ; bearing of, on
good housing, 152-53, 170-71 ; de-
velopment through supervisory
board, recommendation for, 10;
improvement through individual
cooperation, 29-30 ; maintenance as
protection to home ownership, 6
Construction, new residential : 1921-
1929, showing types of dwellings
in various classes of cities (table),
195; 1921-1930, types of dwellings
provided in (table), 193
Cost: of dwellings, factors in, 158;
of houses, 789 Buffalo properties,
82, (table) 83; of living studies,
recommended, 53 ; of owned single
houses and two-family houses, 789
Buffalo properties (chart), 84; of
property, relationship of, to family
income, 114; reduction in housing,
various methods of, 69-70
Curran, Thomas M., 7fn, 25fn
Dallas, Tex., 74
Davie, M. R., 60fn
Deed restrictions, 6, 27-28
Definitions: of housing types, 147-
151 ; of terms used in classifying
families, 177
Dependents, number of, year prior to
home purchase and in 1930, 789
Buffalo families, 95-97, (table) 97
Des Moines, Iowa, 31
Detached houses. See Dwellings,
multiple ; Dwellings, one-family ;
Dwellings, two-family
Detroit, Mich., 60, 194, 201, 201fn,
203, 205
Dinwiddie, Emily W., 48fn, 143fn
Division of Building and Housing, 8,
46fn, 74, 76fn, 135fn, 146fn, 162fn
Dodge Corporation, F. W., 196
Douglas, P. H., 58, 58fn
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Apartments,
Dwellings : classification of (draw-
ings), 148-49; cost of, various fac-
tors in, 158-60, 171 ; cost of, clas-
sification of, 159-60; old, rental
market of, 42 ; quality of, factors
in, 158; rental, types of, 40-42;
rented, field for, study suggested,
173 ; standards for, 170 ; type of,
relation to total costs, 159, 160;
types of, in Buffalo (table), 78;
types and varieties of, 150-52 ;
values and rentals in, and percent-
age of families in each value or
rental group, "Middletown"
(table), 206
Dwellings, multiple : administration
of, study suggested, 173 ; city plot-
tage varieties (diagrams), 148,
149, 219; detached (diagram),
148; detached, Washington, D. C.
(illus.), facing 175; development
of, causes, 153; effect of, on one-
family districts, 165-67; field of,
study suggested, 174; high land
values as cause of, 200-1 ; in
smaller cities, causes of increase in,
205-7; large-scale projects (dia-
grams), 220; narrow lot varieties
(diagrams), 218; rental market
for, 41-42; rental problems of
small, 38 ; row lot-line, New York,
N. Y. (illus.), facing 151; row or
lot-line (diagram), 149; semi-de-
tached (diagram), 149; semi-de-
tached, Washington, D. C. (illus.),
facing 175; trends in, 194-96;
trends toward, 197-200. See also
Apartment houses ; Apartments
Dwellings, one-family : advantages
of, 171 ; advantages of, for chil-
dren, 162-64; arrangement of, to
provide common services, 151-52;
detached (diagram), 148, 149, 216;
detached (illus.), facing 146,
frontispiece ; field of, study sug-
gested, 174; group (illus.), facing
174; group-row (diagram), 216;
group and row (diagram), 149,
216 ; group and row, Chatham Vil-
lage, Pittsburgh (illus.), facing
31; number of children in, 202-4;
possible adaptation of, for small
families, 164 ; reasons for living in,
INDEX
223
201 ; rental market for, 40-41 ; row
(diagram), 216 ; row, Washington,
D. C. (illus.), facing 30; semi-
detached (diagram), 149, 216;
semi-detached, Washington, D. C.
(illus.), facing 147; trends in, 194,
196-97; types (diagrams), 148,
149, 216
Dwellings, two-family : converted
from one-family houses, Buffalo
(illus.), facing 147; decline in
popularity of, 151, 170, 193-94; de-
cline of, study recommended, 172 ;
detached (diagram), 148, 217; de-
tached, New England (illus.), fac-
ing 147; group, Bridgeport, Conn,
(illus.), facing 150; group-row
(diagram), 149, 217; market for,
41; mixed use (diagram), 217;
row (diagram), 217; row, Wash-
ington, D. C. (illus.), facing 151;
semi-detached (diagram), 149,
217; semi-detached, St. Louis (il-
lus.), facing 151
Dwellings, types of : 145-220 ; (draw-
ings), 148-49, 216-20; advantages
of various, 32 ; as filling social
needs, 162-67 ; changes in propor-
tions of, 196-97 ; classification of,
150-52; community burdens of
various, 168 ; conclusions on, 169-
72 ; correlation of age groups of
children with, Evanston (table),
203 ; definitions, 193 ; diagrams
and descriptions, 216-20 ; effect of
land value on, 153-54, 208-15 ; fac-
tors in choosing among, 32 ; in new
residential construction, 1921 to
1930 (table), 193; needed by vari-
ous family types, 175-92; present
situation and trend, 192-207;
studies recommended, 172-74 ;
trends in, in various classes of
cities, 1921 and 1929 (table), 195
Earnings : average annual, of wage
earners, various groups, 58 ; loss
of, 1930 and 1931, 58-59; of prin-
cipal breadwinner, year prior to
home purchase, and in 1930, 789
Buffalo families, 92-94, (table)
93. See also Income
East Chicago, Ind., 194
Education : need for, in recondition-
ing, remodeling, and modernizing,
143-44; of home buyers, recom-
mended, 55-57
Ely, Richard T., 14fn
Employment : full-time, ratio of, dur-
ing 1930, to year prior to home
purchase, Buffalo home ownership
study (table), 122; mobility of,
as cause of apartment trend, 200;
number of weeks of, by principal
breadwinner, Buffalo home owner-
ship study, 120-21 ; number of
weeks of, by principal breadwinner,
year prior to home purchase and
1930, 789 Buffalo families, 90-92,
(chart) 91, (table) 92; and in-
come, Buffalo home ownership
study, 118-22
Evanston, 111., 203, 204, 205
Everett, Mass., 194
Expenditures, family, effect of home
purchase on, 50-51
Fall River, Mass., 31
Families : classification of, for hous-
ing needs, 175-76; dependents in,
year prior to home purchase and
1930, 789 Buffalo families, 95-97,
(table) 97; home purchasing, case
study of, Buffalo area, 126-34 ;
home purchasing, special advan-
tages of, Buffalo study, 51-52;
housing needs of various types of,
171 ; number of children under 10
in, in Wilmington, Del. (chart),
180; number of children under 21
in, in Wilmington, Del. (chart),
180 ; number of gainful workers in,
in Wilmington, Del. (chart), 181;
number of lodgers in, in Wilming-
ton, Del. (chart), 181; number of
related persons in, in Wilmington,
Del. (chart), 180
Family : composition of, in Wilming-
ton, Del., 177-82, (table) 178-79;
composition of neighborhoods,
study suggested, 173; expenditures
and housing, 58-68; median size,
Wilmington, Del. (table), 182;
size of, and number of rooms, Buf-
falo home ownership study, 122;
solidarity as prerequisite to home
purchase, 131-34; types, compari-
son of, by wards, Wilmington, Del.,
184-92, (table) 190; types, hous-
ing needs of various, 175-92; types
and housing trends, 175-207
Farband Housing Corporation, 71
Farm : housing, 168-69 ; ownership,
decrease in, 2
Federal government, furnishing of
home ownership information by,
recommended, 7
Federal Home Loan Bank Act, 9fn,
55fn
Financing, home: agencies, types of,
224 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
amortized and nonamortized first
mortgages, 610 Buffalo properties
(table), 115; agencies, types of,
amortized and nonamortized sec-
ond mortgages, 402 Buffalo prop-
erties (table), 116; agencies, types
of, increase in, recommended, 55;
agency, types of, Buffalo home
ownership study, summary, 125;
extra expenses in, 48-49; factors
making for varying costs in, 82-
85; precautions necessary in, 24-
25; recommendations for reducing
cost of, 8-9, 54-55; 789 Buffalo
families, 82-88; source of down
payment for, 789 Buffalo families,
97-98, (table) 98. See also Mort-
gages ; Mortgage costs
Ford Motor Company, 60
Forward, The, 64
Frisbee, Ira N., 18fn
Garage : data, 789 Buffalo properties,
79, (table) 80; for tenants, 38
Ginberg, Harris, 192fn
Government : aid to housing, possi-
bilities of, 57; Federal, furnishing
of information on home ownership
by, recommended, 7 ; home owners'
interest in, 30
Grand Rapids, Mich., 31
Gries, John M., Ifn, 7fn, 25fn
Group houses. See Dwellings, mul-
tiple ; Dwellings, one-family ;
Dwellings, two-family
Groups, social, housing needs of, 161-
62
Guradze, — , 67fn
Haenszel, William M., 76fn
Halbert, Blanche, 47fn, 69fn
Heating, central, for single-family
houses, 151
Heller Committee for Research in
Social Economics of the University
of California, 60, 60fn, 64, 65
Henderson, Y., 60fn
Herman, S. James, 201fn, 203, 205
Hinman, Albert G., 203fn, 204
Holden, Arthur C, 208fn, 216fn
Home : building, precautions in, 22-
23 ; buyer, general advice to, 5 ;
buyer, weakness of position of, in
home purchase, 49 ; definition of,
192fn ; modernizing, effect of, on
property values, 29 ; owners, in-
terest of, in government, 30. See
also Financing, home
"Home Finance and Taxation," 9fn,
55fn
Home ownership : advantages and
satisfactions arising from, 789 Buf-
falo families, 99-101, (table) 101 ;
advantages of, 1, 3; analysis of
business conditions needed to safe-
guard, 12; as savings incentive,
5-6, 19; central coordinating com-
mittee on, recommendation for, 1 1 ;
compared with renting, 3-4; com-
parison of, in Cleveland, Ohio, and
Ohio nonfarm homes, 137-42,
(table) 137; disadvantages and
dissatisfactions arising from, 789
Buffalo families, 101-2, (table)
102 ; effect of, on home care, 29 ;
enhancement of investment in,
through community improvement,
29-30 ; extra financing expenses a
deterrent to, 48-49, 88; factors
making for, 3 ; family solidarity as
aid to, 56 ; increase in, with higher
home values, 136 ; need of informa-
tion to stabilize, 4-5; percentage
of, in U. S., 2; proportion of, and
renting, by valuation classes in
1930, 135-42; relation of, to in-
come, 64-65; relation of, to value,
urban and rural nonfarm homes —
selected states (table), 140-41; re-
lation of, to values, selected cities
(table), 138-39; rural nonfarm
homes, 137-42; safeguards in, 6;
study of trends of, recommended,
8; surveys, recommended, 53;
various aids to, for low-income
groups, study suggested, 54; versus
renting, reasons for, 202 ; and the
business cycle, 12-18
Home ownership and leasing : 1-44 ;
problem of, 1-2; recommendations
concerning, 7-11; trends in, 2-3
Home purchase : accumulation of
savings through, 5-6 ; advantages
of certain Buffalo families in. 51-
52 ; advice on, need for, 18 ; bud-
geting of, 23-24; case studies in,
need for, 53-54; case studies of
ten families making, Buffalo, 126-
33 ; consequences of, 98-102 ; edu-
cation on, need for, 56 ; expert in-
spection before, need for, 22 ; fac-
tors making for success in, 131 ;
family solidarity as prerequisite to,
131-34; favorable time for, 19-20;
feasibility of, for low-income
groups, 52-53 ; importance of legal
advice in, 28-29; inadvisability of,
for some families, 134; inequality
of bargaining strength of buyer in,
49; information to safeguard, need
INDEX
225
for, 4-5 ; minimum income level
at time of, 119-20; not a specula-
tion, 26; protection of investment
in, 6; suggested precautions in,
18, 19-30
Homemakers, gainfully employed :
number of, in apartments, 205 ; oc-
cupations of, in Wilmington, Del.
(table), 181
"Homemaking, Home Furnishing
and Information Services," 144fn
Homes: distribution of, by owner-
ship and rental groups, 1930,
(chart), 137; median value of, in
Wilmington, Del., 182; propor-
tions of, by value or rental classes
and proportions owned — selected
cities (table), 138-39; proportion
of urban and rural nonfarm, by
ownership and rental classes and
proportions owned — selected states
(table), 140-41; rental value of
all, in Wilmington, Del., (chart)
189, (table) 188; rented, rental
paid for, in Wilmington, Del.,
(chart) 186, (table) 185
Homes, owned: annual rental value
of, in Wilmington, Del., 182-84;
estimated rental value of, in Wil-
mington, Del., (chart) 186, (table)
187; value of, in Wilmington, Del.,
(chart) 184, (table) 183; and
rented, proportion of, by valuation
classes, 1930, 135-42
Hoover, Herbert, President of the
United States, 1, 9fn, 55fn
Houghteling, L., 60, 60fn, 62, 63
"House Design, Construction and
Equipment," 21fn, 157fn
"Household Management and Kitch-
ens," 52fn
Household operation, expenditures
for, 65-67
Houses : detached ; group ; row ;
semi-detached. See Dwellings,
multiple ; Dwellings, one-family ;
Dwellings, two-family
Houses : single, with amortized mort-
gages— relation of monthly mort-
gage cost to family income, 381
Buffalo properties (table), 109;
single, with unamortized mort-
gages— relation of monthly mort-
gage cost to family income, 254
Buffalo properties (table), 110;
year of construction of, of 789
Buffalo houses (table), 81; and
apartments, number of, in Buffalo,
1930 (table), 78. See also Apart-
ment houses; Apartments; Dwell-
ings; Dwellings, multiple; Dwell-
ings, one-family; Dwellings, two-
family; Dwellings, types of;
Homes
Housing: community essentials for,
165; definition of, in budget
studies, 59-61; essentials of, 152-
53; expenditures, effect of family
size on, 62; factors of variability
in amount spent for, 61 ; farm and
village, 168-69; land cost as im-
portant factor in, 156-57; low-cost,
possibilities of various types of,
56-57 ; multi-family, study of trend
toward, 197-99; needs of various
groups, 160-62; new interest in so-
cial consequences of, 145-46; proj-
ects, low-cost, 69-75; proportion
of income spent for, 59-68; rural,
168-69 ; terms, diagrams and defi-
nition of, 147-51 ; trends and family
types, 175-207
"Housing and the Community, Home
Repair and Remodeling," 29fn
"Housing Objectives and Programs,"
9fn, 55fn
Improvements, municipal, as factor
in home purchase, 25
Income : annual family, year prior to
home purchase, and 1930, 789 Buf-
falo families, 94-95, (chart) 96,
(table) 94; auxiliary, Buffalo
families, 118-19; distribution of,
data on, 56-58 ; family, relationship
of, to cost of property (tables),
112, 113; family, relationship of,
to property price, 114; family, and
mortgage costs, summary, 122-24;
groups, classification of housing
needs of, 160-62; level, minimum,
for home purchase, 119-20; mort-
gage cost as percentage of, 124-25 ;
need for stabilization of, 4; of
principal breadwinners living in
single houses (table), 120; of prin-
cipal breadwinner, relation of, to
age, 121-22; proportion of, spent
for housing, 59-68; total family,
relation of, to father's earnings,
59; and employment, 118-22; and
mortgage costs, 107-14
Income and the home, relationship
of: 45-144; summary, 46-53; gen-
eral considerations and recommen-
dations, 45-57 ; introductory, 45-46 ;
research needs, 53-54; scarcity of
data on, 45. See also Families;
Financing, home
Industrial : decentralization, probable
226 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
increase in, 169 ; housing, increased
interest in, 41 ; housing, rural, 169
Information on home purchase, need
for, 4-5, 56
Inspection: expert, need of, before
home purchase, 22 ; of rented
quarters, 32
Institute for Economic Research,
197, 202
Insurance, home: as factor in home
purchase, 25 ; as safeguard to home
purchase, 28; further needs in, 9-
10; study of, recommended, 9-10;
types of, 28
Jackson, Miss., 73
Jemison Companies, 73
Jersey City, N. J., 31
Jewish National Workers Alliance
of America, 71
Johnson, B. Eleanor, 47fn, 58fn
Journal of Land and Public Utility
Economics, 202
Kansas City, Kans., 195
Kansas City, Mo., 195
Kearney, N. J., 194
Keister, Alfred S., 48fn
King, W. L, 58, 58fn
Lake Wales, Fla., 17
Land: cost, as underlying factor in
housing, 156-57; costs, determina-
tion of, by density of occupancy,
154-55; costs, reduction of, 157-58;
economic value of, definition of,
214; economics, research suggested
in, 214-15; increase in available
urban, effect of, 209; overcrowd-
ing, as basic housing evil, 145 ; re-
lation of, to dwelling types, 174;
speculation in, as underlying bad
housing, 169; undue occupancy of,
as cause of decline of two-family
and row dwellings, study of, 172;
use of, improved practices now
possible in, 170
Land values : effect of, on types of
dwellings, 208-15; effect of city
planning and zoning on, 153-54;
high, as cause of apartment trend,
200-1, 208; increased, as cause of
overcrowding, 208 ; real, definition
of, 211 ; reduction in, through ad-
ditional supply, 210 ; relation of,
to housing types, research needed,
208-9 ; stability of, effect on dwell-
ing types, 153-54
Landlord, problems of the. 36-39
Large-scale apartment projects (dia-
grams), 220
Large-scale housing projects, re-
search needed in, 215
Lavanburg Foundation, 72
Leasing: compared with ownership,
3-4; contracts in, 39; dates, stag-
gering of, 10, 34, 38-39; impor-
tance of legal advice in, 36; land-
lord's problems in, 38 ; long-term,
advantages of, 34-35 ; problems,
study of, recommended, 10-11 ; pro-
visions for repairs in, 35-36 ; safe-
guards in terms of, 34-35 ; serv-
ices included with, 35 ; terms de-
sirable in, 34-35 ; time of, 33-34 ;
trends, study of, recommended, 8
Location for home, factors determin-
ing, 21, 33
Los Angeles, Calif., 12-13
Lots : cost of, as primary factor in
housing problem, 156-57; frontage
of, in 789 Buffalo properties, 78-
79, (table) 79 ; overcrowding of,
evils of, 156; reasons for increase
in number of, 13-14 ; sizes, re-
duction in, as result of high land
values, 209 ; speculation, influence
of, on home owner's investment,
14; vacant, economic drain of ex-
cessive number of, 14 ; vacant,
probable proportion of, 13
Low-cost housing: projects, 69-75;
various forms of, study suggested,
54 >
Low-income groups : housing for,
studies of, suggested, 171 ; housing
needs of, 160-61 ; possibilities of
various types of housing for, 56-
57 ; problems of, in home pur-
chase, 52-53
Ltitge, — , 67, 68
Lynd, Helen M., 206, 206fn
Lynd, Robert S., 206, 206fn
Mail-order company, house building
plan of, 74
Manhattan Housing Corporation, 71
Metropolitan Life Insurance Com-
pany, 72
Miami, Fla., 16, 17
Michigan Housing Association, 201fn
"Middletown" : house values, rentals,
and percentage of families in each
value or rentalgroup (table), 206;
types of dwellings in, 206-7
Milwaukee, Wis., 135, 136, 194
Mining towns, special problems of,
169
Minneapolis, Minn., 195
INDEX
227
Mississippi State Board of Develop-
ment, 73
Mobile, Ala., 16
Modernizing, recommendations on,
143-44. See also Reconditioning
Morehouse, Edward W., 14fn
Mortgage cost: according to meth-
ods of payment of first and second
mortgages, 789 Buffalo properties
(table), 105; as a percentage of
income, Buffalo home ownership
study, 124-25 ; monthly, relation of,
to family income — single houses
with amortized mortgages, 381
Buffalo properties (table), 109;
monthly, relation of, to family in-
come— single houses with unam-
ortized mortgages, 254 Buffalo
properties (table), 110; on home
properties, 619 Buffalo families,
103-7 ; relation of, to size of family
income, 111-14; and family income,
summary, 122-24; and income, 107-
14; and purchase price, Buffalo
home ownership study, 125; and
purchase price of property, 103-7
Mortgages : amortization of, "Buffalo,
789 families, 85, (table) 86;
amortized, relation of monthly
payments to cost of properties pur-
chased in 1922 or later, 396 Buffalo
properties (table), 108; first, l-,3-
and 5-year, renewal charges on, 176
Buffalo properties (table), 117;
first, number amortized, 610 Buf-
falo properties, 115; first, renewal
charges, 495 Buffalo properties,
116, (table) 117; first, types of
financing agencies, 610 Buffalo
properties (table), 115; holders of,
789 Buffalo properties, 86-87,
(table) 86; long-term, as aid to
financing, 54-55 ; number of years
written, 789 Buffalo properties, 87-
88, (table) 87; precautions neces-
sary in assuming, 24-25; redis-
counting of, suggested, 55 ; renewal
charges on, related to type of fi-
nancing agency, 114-22; second,
number amortized, 402 Buffalo
properties, 115; second, renewal
charges, 495 Buffalo properties,
116-18; second, types of financing
agencies, 402 Buffalo properties
(table), 116; short-term, renewal
charges on, 118; third, 789 Buffalo
properties, 88; unamortized, rela-
tion of monthly payments to cost
of properties purchased in 1922 or
later, 218 Buffalo properties
(table), 106
Multiple dwellings. See Apartment
houses; Apartments; Dwellings,
multiple
Multiple listing of properties, recom-
mended, 11, 55
Municipal improvements as factor in
home purchase, 25
Nashville, Term., 72
National Bureau of Economic Re-
search, Inc., 58, 58fn
National Committee on Wood Utili-
zation, 7fn, 23fn
Neighborhood: activities as protec-
tion to home ownership, 6; dis-
appearance of, as cause of multiple
dwelling trend, 200 ; importance of,
in home purchase, 20-21 ; unit,
encouragement of, through zoning
changes, 212-13; unit, importance
of, in housing, 165, 172; unit, need
for varied housing types in, 165-67
Neighborhoods, family composition
of, 175-92
Neill, Thomas, 47fn, 126fn
New Orleans, La., 62, 66
New Rochelle, N. Y., 42, 43, 202
New York, N. Y. : 31, 153, 158, 165,
210, 212, 215; low-cost housing
enterprises in, 70-72; row of lot-
line multiple dwellings in (illus.),
facing 151
New York State Board of Housing,
Nienburg, B., 60, 60fn, 61, 61fn
Notestein, Frank W., 90
Occupation of principal breadwinner :
at year of home purchase and 1930,
89-90, (table) 90; and number of
weeks employed in 1930, 602 Buf-
falo families (table), 121; and
number of weeks employed, year
prior to home purchase, 605 Buf-
falo families (table), 121
Octavia Hill Association, 72
One-family houses. See Dwellings,
one-family; Houses
Open spaces : destruction of, through
high taxation, 213-14; importance
of, 155
Overcrowding, lot, evils of, 156
Peixotto, J., 60, 60fn, 68, 68fn
Perkins, N. S., 7fn, 23fn
Phelan, V. B., 7fn, 29fn
Philadelphia, Pa.: 154; low-cost
housing in, 72, 74
228 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
Philadelphia Housing Association,
43, 72, 144fn
Phipps, Society of, 72
Pittsburgh, Pa.: 60, 63, 65, 161fn,
173, 194, 215 ; group and row one-
family houses, Chatham Village
(illus.), facing 31
"Planning for Residential Districts,"
146fn, 166fn
Population : aging of, 192 ; composi-
tion of, as related to housing needs,
160-62; forecasts, value of, 12-13
Price : of houses, Buffalo properties,
purchased prior to 1922, 82 ; of
houses, 789 Buffalo properties
(table), 83; of property and mort-
gage costs, Buffalo home owner-
ship study, 125 ; property, relation
of, to family income, 114; pur-
chase, of home properties, with
average down payment and face
value mortgages, 619 Buffalo fam-
ilies, 103
Property briefs, advantages of, 11
Radburn, N. J., 215
Real estate : boards, multiple listing
and making of property briefs by,
recommended, 11; market, possi-
bility of improved organization of,
55; need for securing expert ad-
vice on conditions in, 18
Real estate values : cycles in, 15, 16-
17; long-term trends in, 15-16;
random movements in, 17-18; sea-
sonal variation in, 15
Recommendations: on home owner-
ship and leasing, 7-11; on recon-
ditioning, remodeling and modern-
izing, 143-44; on relationship of
income and the home, 53-57; on
types of dwellings, 168-74
Reconditioning: possibilities of, 49-
50, 55-56; recommendations on,
143-44
Regional Plan of New York and Its
Environs, Committee on, 166fn
Rent surveys, value of, 43-44
Rentals : amount of, factors in, 32-
33 ; comparison of, in two selected
wards, in Wilmington, Del.
(chart), 191; general considera-
tions governing, 39-44; in Wil-
mington, Del., 182-84; paid by
mine workers, 61
Renters : improved accommodations
for, problem of, 2; percentage of,
in U. S., 2; problems of, in com-
munity development, 10 ; propor-
tions of, in various cities, 31 ; types
of, 39-40
Renting : advantages of, 31 ; prob-
lems of, 31-44; services included
with, 35 ; versus owning, problems
of, 31 ; versus owning, reasons for,
3-4, 202. See also Leasing
Repairs: cooperation of tenant in.
35-36; provision for, in lease, 35-
36
Research suggested: 7-11, 172-74;
blighted areas, rehabilitation of,
174; budgets, family, 53; city plan-
ning, as related to home ownership,
8; cost of living, 53; dwellings,
multiple, administration of, 173;
dwellings, multiple, field for, 174;
dwellings, one-family, field for,
174; dwellings, rented, field for,
173 ; dwellings, two-family and
row, decline of, 172 ; dwellings,
types of, community burdens of
various, 168, 173-74; dwellings,
types of, comparison of, for vari-
ous income groups, 173 ; dwell-
ings, types of, comparison of costs,
173; dwellings, types of, relation
of land costs to, 174 ; family types
and housing, 167 ; home ownership,
aids to, for low-income groups,
54; home ownership, as based on
census material, 8 ; home owner-
ship, surveys, 53 ; home ownership,
trends of, 8 ; home purchase, case
studies, 53-54; income and the
home, 48, 53-54; insurance, home,
9-10 ; land economics, 214-15 ; land
values, relation of, to housing
types, 208-9; large-scale housing
projects, 215; leasing problems,
10-11; leasing, trends of, 8; low-
cost housing, various forms of, 54;
low-income groups, housing for,
171 ; neighborhoods, family com-
position of, 173 ; subdivision con-
trol, 8 ; zoning, as related to home
ownership, 8
Rhyolite, Nev., 17, 17fn, 18
Richmond, Va., 73
Riggleman, John R., 18fn
Rockefeller, John D., Jr., 72
Rooms, number of, in 789 Buffalo
houses, 80, (table) 80
Row houses. See Dwellings, mul-
tiple ; Dwellings, one-family ;
Dwellings, two-family
Rural : housing, 168-69 ; industrial
housing. 169
INDEX
229
St. Louis, Mo.: 196, 197; semi-de-
tached two-family houses in (il-
lus.), facing 151
St. Paul, Minn., 195
Salt Lake City, Utah, 135, 136
San Francisco, Calif., 59, 64, 65, 66,
194
Savings : amount of, among wage and
salaried workers, 66-67; neglect
of, by home purchasing families,
134
Schmidlapp, Jacob B., low-cost hous-
ing enterprise of, 72
Schwabe, Herman, 67, 67fn, 68
Seattle, Wash., low-cost housing in,
74
Semi-detached houses. See Dwell-
ings, multiple; Dwellings, one-
family; Dwellings, two-family
Service: form for tenants' reports
on, 37; importance of, in apart-
ment house management, 37-38
Skyscrapers, effect of, on surround-
ing land values, 210
"Slums, Large-Scale Housing and
Decentralization," 69fn, 161fn
Social : groups, housing needs of,
161-62; needs as met by various
types of dwellings, 162-67
Stabilization of home values, need
of, 4
Stanton Housing Corporation, 71
Statistisches Reichsamt, 67
Studies recommended. See Research
suggested
Subdivision : control, study of,
recommended, 8; increased, rea-
sons for, 13-14
Sunnyside, N. Y., 215
Sydenstricker, Edgar, 90
Taxation: land, need for change in
method of, 213-14; local organiza-
tion for providing information on,
recommended, 10
Taxes : as factor in home purchase,
25-26; relation of, to family in-
come, 124-25
Tax-exempt properties, need for in-
crement tax at sale of, 214
Taylor, James S., Ifn, lllfn, 113fn,
135fn
Tenants, problems of, 31-36
Transportation problem as cause of
multiple dwelling trend, 199-200
Trends : in dwelling types in 1929,
193-94; long-time, in real estate
values, 15-16
Two-family houses. See Dwellings,
two-family ; Houses
Types of dwellings, 145-220. See
also Dwellings, types of; Houses
United States Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics, 59fn, 60fn, 62, 62fn, 122,
193, 194fn, 197
United States Bureau of Standards,
Ifn, 7fn, 29fn, 76fn
United States Bureau of the Census,
167
United States Department of Agri-
culture, 7
United States Department of Com-
merce: 7, 8, 10, 23, 23fn, 25fn,
46fn, 56, 74, 135fn, 146fn, 162fn;
further service on home ownership
by, recommended, 7-8; issuing of
home ownership bulletins by,
recommended, 7-8; leasing prob-
lems, continued study of, by,
recommended, 10-11; small house
survey, 74
United States Department of Labor,
59fn, 60m, 193, 194fn
United States Housing Corporation,
group two-family houses built by,
in Bridgeport, Conn, (illus.), fac-
ing 150
University of Buffalo, 47fn, 126fn
University of California, 60fn, 66
Values, home: in Wilmington, Del.,
182-84; need of information to
stabilize, 4-5; relation of home
ownership to, 136, 142
Values, real estate: cycles in, 15,
16-17; long-term trends in, 15-16;
random movements in, 17-18; sea-
sonal variation in, 15
Values of homes: comparison of, in
Cleveland, Ohio, and nonfarm
homes, 137-42, (chart) 142; dis-
tributed by classes, selected cities
(table), 138-39; distributed by
classes, urban and rural nonfarm
homes, selected states (table),
140-41; in four cities, 135-36,
(table) 135; in Wilmington, Del.,
182-84; owned, Wilmington, Del.,
(chart) 184, (table) 183; urban
and rural nonfarm, certain states,
136-37, (table) 137
Village : housing, 168-69 ; summer,
as illustrating open housing, 155-56
Wages. See Earnings ; Income
Washington, D. C. : 135, 136, 151,
157, 170, 195; detached multi-fam-
ily houses in (illus.), facing 175;
row one-family houses, Burleith
230 HOME OWNERSHIP, INCOME AND TYPES OF DWELLINGS
(illus.), facing 30; row two-family
houses in (illus.), facing 151;
semi-detached apartment houses in
(illus.), facing 175; semi-detached
one-family houses in (illus.), fac-
ing 147
Watertown, Mass., 194
Whitten, Robert, 155fn, 166fn, 175fn
Williams, Faith M., 47fn, 58fn
Wilmington, Del.: 167, 176, 205;
analysis of census data in, 176-92
Woodbury, Coleman, 197, 197fn, 202,
202fn, 204fn, 205fn
Yale University, 62, 65
Zimmerman, C. C, 60, 60fn, 65, 66
Zoning: as protection to home own-
ership, 6, 26-27; desirable changes
in, to effect neighborhood-unit
planning, 212-13; effect of, on
land values, 153-54, 212; growth
of, to control building density, 211-
12; standards, limitations of, 211-
12; study of, from home owner-
ship point of view, recommended, 8
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