Building Declines

The continued high cost of construction has, along with the downward tendency of rentals, apparently placed a damper upon construction. Bradstreet's report, covering conditions in 152 cities throughout the country, shows that, compared with $224,624,218 of construction for August last, the value of construction last September in the same cities amounted to $198,942,935. Part of this decrease can only be accounted for through the fact that there were two more business days in August than in September. The figure for September, 1922, was $181,369,342.

In New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco decreases from the August construction rate were seen last month; but an increase in September over the preceding month occurred in Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis.

The monthly record of building in the leading cities of the country, however, shows that the first nine months of 1923 have greatly surpassed the same months of 1922 in the volume of construction; last year's first three-quarters showed total building at $1,849,017,105, compared with $2,293,328,575.