Israel Real Estate
Popular areas, cities for new home purchases
Posted on 29. Aug, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
Cities and areas in outlying areas are continuing to attract the interest of homebuyers as prices in traditional high demand areas such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have been high up in the sky and the supply of new homes has been narrowing.
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Property prices to continue to rise
Posted on 15. Aug, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
Despite increased efforts by the government to stem the sharp surge in Israel real estate prices they have continued to rise over the past year. The trend is expected to continue over the next year in light of the short supply of new apartments for sale.
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Rental prices expected to go up
Posted on 06. Aug, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
Rental prices in Israel are expected to rise as a result of the recent hike in interest rates and tighter Israel mortgage restrictions. “In light of stricter conditions on the approval of mortgages, the rapid rise in housing prices, the recent interest rate hike, and the increase in the purchase of apartments for investment purposes over the past year, we are expecting a moderation in the surge of residential housing prices and a greater probability of a continued rise in the pace of rental prices in the coming months,” said Ayelet Nir, chief economist at IBI investment house.
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New home prices fall by 0.9% in June
Posted on 01. Aug, 2010 by buyitinisrael.
The trend of a decline in prices of new homes reported from the beginning of the year continued in June, according to an economic report by Israel’s Finance Ministry. The median price of new homes dropped by 0.9 percent in June. A geographical comparison found that the decline encompassed most areas around the country apart from Haifa and Rehovot. The area which saw a sharp fall in Israel real estate prices in June was Beersheva.
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Effect of August interest rate hike on prime loan mortgages
Posted on 29. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
For the first time in four months the Bank of Israel this week raised interest rates for August by a quarter percentage point from 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent in a move to cool Israel real estate prices which are feared to develop into a bubble. Over the past year prices in the Israel housing market have risen over 20 percent and the Bank of Israel warned recently that if they continue to rise at this pace a bubble will develop.
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Homebuyers’ confidence in Israeli construction companies returns
Posted on 27. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
More Israel real estate buyers are again purchasing apartments and houses from contractors following the changes in the Israeli Sales Law, which seeks to protect the interests of new apartment buyers. In 2009 and over the course of the first five months of 2010, there is a rising trend in the rate of new apartments bought from contractors compared with 2008, according to a survey by the Contractors’ Association.
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In retrospect: The effect of the global economic crisis on real estate in Israel
Posted on 25. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
The global economic crisis had a moderate impact on activity in the Israel real estate, building and construction sector, despite earlier concerns and difficulties by contractors and homebuyers to receive credit, according to a July report by Israel’s Housing and Construction Ministry. The report noted though that credit difficulties to a lesser extent still pertain.
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Israeli government passes measures to boost housing availability
Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
The Israeli government last week approved a series of operative steps which are meant to significantly boost the number of available residential units that will be marketed to the public. The steps, which are specifically targeted to increase the availability and affordability of apartments for young couples, were approved by the ministerial committee on the [...]
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Interest rates in Israel – a look at historical and current data
Posted on 18. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
In Israel, the rate of interest is announced by the Bank of Israel at the end of every month. These announcements have been made since 1991, and provide the commercial banks with a benchmark for their rates on local-currency unindexed deposits and credit. This rate also affects the banks’ prime rates. In the last few years prime interest has been about one and a half percentage points higher than the interest rate announced by the Bank of Israel. Prime rates are particularly important to mortgages linked to the prime interest rate. A mortgage linked to the prime interest rate based on the Bank of Israel rate is usually taken out for a period of up to 25 years.
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The cost of bureaucracy in Israel
Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff.
The bulk of bureaucracy involved in the process of issuing permits in the new construction sector makes up nearly six percent of the purchase price of a real estate in Israel, according to a study by the Israeli Contractors Association. Bureaucratic processes and delays in the approval of construction permits with which a contractor has to deal with, generates an additional cost of NIS 90,000 for the individual buyer to the price of an average four-room apartment at NIS 1,500,000.
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High Court to rule on ILA land sales
Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by buyitinisrael.
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday began to hear two petitions calling for the nullification of an amendment passed by the Knesset last year, allowing the Israel Lands Administration to sell 800,000 dunams (80,000 hectares) of state-owned land to private investors. One petition was filed by attorney Gilad Barnea on behalf of a group of public petitioners including four youth movements, MKs from the left and right side of the political spectrum and other organizations.
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