Construction .Goes Ahead

Construction Goes Ahead

Possibly the most encouraging recent development in business has been the progress made by the construction industry in continuing its building program with stabilized wages and a downward tendency in material prices. After the general abandonment of new building this spring (TIME, May 28), when construction costs were rapidly mounting, the labor situation became easier. Now, instead of attempting to overdo production, the industry is apparently entering a period of steadier and less expensive even if slower construction. An analysis of the country's building requirements shows that the present demand for buildings--a survival of the long war period of inadequate construction--would warrant for the next ten years a building program 25% above normal production. The problem will be to keep down the costs of this unusually large program, in order that when rentals fall to a lower and more stable basis, large speculative losses may be avoided. Just now contractors are confidently undertaking new projects again, aided by the big insurance companies and other financial interests. The outlook, as expressed at present in the trade, is for steady but not hysterical building conditions through next fall and probably throughout 1924.