Imperial Valley Press

Home Building Progress Matches Growth of Valley

The progress and stability of a city or a county can be told by the number and the class of new homes built within it, and the expansion of the building industry of the Imperial Valley during the past few years is something that the county's slogan artists have overlooked in the recent Post-Press campaign.

It could truthfully be said (and this is not offered in competition for the $1 offered by the management), that it is a privilege to live in Imperial Valley because this is the land of beautiful homes.

During the past four or five years new homes have risen almost as fast as the county's flax acreage, and in that period the class of the average Imperial Valley home constructed has risen from that of the very ordinary to a class comparable to that of any county in southern California.

Average Price Up

In 1929, for instance, the average price of a home built in El Centro was something under $2000, and during the past two years the cost of the average home constructed amounted to more than $3500. A $3500-home constructed in 1940 or 1941, according to most building experts, would easily compare with a $5000 home in 1929.

El Centro building observers will predict that more and improved new homes will be constructed during 1941 because, they will tell you: now is the time to build in Imperial Valley.

In the first place the market has not risen to a level that will make more than a $100 difference in construction cost of an average El Centro home over last year. The price on building materials is expected to rise later in the year, however.

Secondly, this is the time of the year to build, experts will tell you, because Title 1 loans under the FHA program will expire June 30, and that type of loan is not likely to be renewed. Title 1, under FHA, offers a long loan for construction of a home in the low price bracket.

Other Advantages

There are other advantages. Tax assessments have been completed and no additional improvement tax will be levied until next March. This is also the time of the year in Imperial Valley that maximum working efficiency is obtained and beginning of construction work now will bring about completion in time for rental in the fall for speculation builders.

Improvements in building during recent years have made homes more livable and more economical both in original cost and in maintenance.

Insulation is perhaps the most important building "invention" as far as Imperial Valley is concerned. Insulation, not only makes the Imperial Valley home more comfortable, both in winter and in summer, but it reduces the heating and cooling costs. Insulation will keep homes 15 to 20 degrees cooler in the summer with less strain on the cooling system, whether it be the modern refrigeration cooler or the better-known desert cooler.

Innovations

An advantage, both for decorative purposes and for economy, has been the development of wall boards to replace tile and plaster walls. Some of the wall boards contain insulation and thereby reduce another building cost.

Then there are the innovations to conserve space, such as the rolling doors, both in closets and in room doors. There are the space saving cabinets in modern kitchens, the double compartment sinks, indirect lighting, duct systems for heating and cooling and a hundred and one other improvements and conveniences for the 1941 Imperial Valley home owner.

It's not only a privilege to live in Imperial Valley, but it's a privilege to be able to build a home in the county, because with all the new-fangled arrangements, they're rivaling the fairy-story homes we used to read about as youngsters.