16 University of New Hampshire [Bulletin 290 



Table 8. Index of value of tax sales of rural real estate by counties and 



year of sale, 1929 - 1932. 



1929 = 100 



County 1929 1930 1931 1932 



Belknap 100 116 160 117 



Carroll 100 121 358 194 



Cheshire 100 129 220 328 



Coos 100 71 146 261 



Grafton 100 133 177 259 



Hillsboro 100 163 297 242 



Merrimack 100 229 266 408 



Rockingham 100 109 112 142 



Strafford 100 89 98 254 



Sullivan 100 99 198 284 



All counties 100 125 185 232 



There were 1,741 properties sold in the 216 towns in 1932 comprising an 

 area of 158,907 acres of rural lands, compared with 868 properties and 

 70,586 acres in 1928. (Appendix B.) More than one-third of the acreage 

 sold was consistently in Grafton County alone. Had all the towns in the 

 State been surveyed, the figures for 1932 would doubtless have shown tax 

 sales to exceed 172,000 acres of land and nearly $135,000 in value. 



Relation of Sales to Delinquency. Variations between counties and towns 

 with respect to the proportion of advertised delinquencies paid before sale 

 can be partially accounted for by the length of time lapsed between Decem- 

 ber 1 and the date of advertising. Obviously the longer a collector delays 

 the posting of delinquent properties the less likely will an appreciable num- 

 ber of these properties be discharged before sale. In 1931 two-thirds of the 

 properties advertised in all counties except Merrimack and Sullivan were 

 sold. (Table 9.) In other years the range was 55 to 57 per cent. More 

 than nine-tenths of the properties posted in 1931 in Belknap and Hillsboro 

 Counties were sold and less than one-half in Strafford County, five other 

 counties ranging between these extremes. In Merrimack County in 1932, 

 20 per cent of the properties delinquent on December 1, 1931 went to sale. 

 In Sullivan County 18 per cent of the properties on which interest was 

 charged went to sale. In each case the percentage was nearly double that 

 of 1929. 



Table 9. Number of properties sold as per cent of properties advertised by counties, 



and the year of sale, 1929 - 1932. 



1929 1930 1931 1932 



Belknap 73 59 91 51 



Carroll 100 69 85 45 



Cheshire 45 35 58 46 



Coos 46 42 51 61 



Grafton 51 53 61 63 



Hillsboro 50 70 92 54 



Rockingham 79 77 66 69 



Strafford 37 35 45 52 



Eight counties 55 56 67 57 



Merrimack* 11 12 17 20 



Sullivan** 10 12 15 18 



* Per cent of properties delinquent on December 1. 

 ** Per cent of properties delinquent on date from which interest was charged. 



