Are Land Values Rising or Falling?

A survey made by correspondence with local assessing officials, to obtain total/sum assessed valuations for both land & buildings (L&B's), & to discover whether such values were rising or falling, 500 cities & towns with pop's over 10,000 were chosen. Assessors were asked to give total/sum L&B valuations for the yrs 1940-1956, to determine how much increase or decrease in valuations had occurred. Reports were also obtained from 30 large cities, including valuations for the yr 1930, in order to reveal how much values had declined between 1930 & 1940 (1930 representing pre-depression values, & 1940 generally representing depression values). Figures for 1956 tended to show the recovery from depression levels. Valuations were checked with pop, to arrive at per capita values for both L&B's. As expected, an upward trend in both L&B values was revealed between 1940 & 1956, but in most cases the Z B valuation was much greater. Most signif is the comparison of valuations for 1930 with those of 1940 & 1956. There were many drastic reductions in both L&B values between 1930 & 1940 in leading US cities, & in some instances, despite the rising trend after 1940, L values were still lower in 1956 than in 1930. Had there been no decline in the value of the dollar in this period, the comparative figures would be very signif, but when dollar values are taken into consideration, the decline in assessed L valuations as of 1956 appears to be extraordinary. This study was confined to Ur communities, & naturally reflects the strong trend toward decentralization in pop & trade that prevails throughout the US. Hence an examination of subUr & Ru L values may be expected to show sharp increases in L values in those areas. Modified AA.