Market Update: Demand, sales of new apartments in Israel rises in January
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Buy-It In Israel Staff in Israel Real Estate
©iStockphoto/Keith Reicher
Demand for new homes in Israel January this year rose by 15 percent, while sales of new apartments increased by 9 percent, according to figures published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
In January the demand for apartments stood at 2,770 housing units out of which 1,390 new apartments were sold to the general public and 1,380 apartments were in construction not for purposes of sales including projects of buyers groups and rental housing. The demand for new apartments figure is calculated by adding the number of new apartments sold and the number of new building starts.
On a year-on-year comparison, demand for new apartments fell by 1% in comparison with January last year mainly due to a decline of 10 percent in the number of apartments in construction which are not bulit for sales purposes, said the Central Bureau of Statistics. In January, 64 percent of new dwellings in private construction not for sales purposes located in the Jerusalem area and 35 percent of new apartments in construction not for purposes of sales in the South, were built by purchasing groups.
The report pointed out that the number of new apartments in private construction up for sale has been on a downward trend since May 2006, apart from a short period in May to November 2008, during which there was a moderate rise. At the end of January, the number of new homes for sale in private construction stood at 8,050 units and was 26 percent lower than in the same month a year ago. Out of the total number of new apartments in private construction, 7,690 were still in active construction, while construction of 360 new apartments was finished over the last 15 months. Out of the total number of new dwellings up for sale at the end of January, 35 percent were located in the Center of the country, 28 percent in the area of Tel Aviv, 15 percent in Jerusalem, 12 percent in the South, 6 percent in Haifa, 3 percent in the North, and 1.3 percent in Judea and Samaria .
Trend figures based on the rate of sales of new homes in January showed that the supply of new housing for sale available at the end of Janaury would last seven months.
Regional analysis found apartment supply of new apartments for sale in the Jerusalem district in January is enough to last for 18 months, in the Tel Aviv district for eight months and the center and southern districts for seven months, and in Haifa and the north for four months.
According to figures by the Housing and Construction Ministry, the city of Modi’in again topped the list of new apartment sales in public construction. In January, 69 housing units were sold representing an increase of 25.5 percent compared with the 55 apartments sold in December. In second place came Har Homa in Jerusalem, where 33 new apartments were sold in January compared with 29 apartments in the previous month. The city of Yavne was ranked in third place with sales of 25 new apartments in January compared with 20 a month earlier. Against this, new apartment sales in Maale Adumim plunged 60 percent in January during which only 8 apartments were sold compared with 20 housing units in December.
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