No sign of the much hoped-for slump in house rents has yet made its appearance, nor does there seem any immediate prospect of it. Almost all the houses in the place are occupied, even badly built ones, In the case of offices, however, a different tale is told. As the trade depression has shown no tendency to lift, worried taipans have beer looking round to discover how expenses might be cut down, and one favourite way seems to be to sublet part of their offices. Staffs may be slightly cramped, but that is of little moment in comparison with the all important question of reducing overhead charges. As a consequence of all this forced economy, office rents are sagging and many premises are vacant. [t musi also be borne in mind that some firms have shut up shop here, and be-taken themselves to places where money is not so easily lost. They or their fellows will hasten back again when trade has turned the corner and as the resident firms will again be wanting larger office space, rents will recover. No one knows, however, when trade wilt turn that corner, and the man wanting to rent an office is exceedingly popular with landlords to-day
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.