A correspondent sends us a very interesting extract from a report by Messrs. Hampton & Sons, the great London house agents, on the general trend of the market. It 13 dated December 20 last and says:
In the early part of the year it was often difficult to sell, as owners of properties would not face the fact that the extravagant era had passed, and those who stood out, and still stand out, for figures based on a comparison with Piices realized in 1919 and 1920 are not likely to find a market for their Properties within the lifetime of the Present generation. It may be that cottages and the smaller class of villas in and around industrial districts will more or less maintain their prices, as the demand for these little places for occupation is still in excess of the supply, but for every other class of property—whether residential or commercial—there is more on offer than can be readily absorbed, with the natural result that only those properties which are placed in the market at reasonably com-Petitive figures change hands, Our correspondent thinks that these considerations are i beginning to od apply te the Shanghai house market. He is one who ought to know and we hope he is right. It is certainly the opinion of many people that the amount of building going on in Shanghai must present-Jy tend to bring down rents. The only difficulty is that, at present costs of construction, new houses
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