Netanya
© istockphoto.com/Shirly Friedman
Why Netanya Real Estate?
HISTORY & COMMUNITY
Netanya, the 8th biggest city in Israel, is located in the Sharon region along the coastal plain surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea characterized by gravel cliffs. As early as 1933, the city already become a resort town and was designed with tourism in sight. Golden beaches stretching along 14 kilometers make the main attraction, along which streets and landscape was designed. Residential areas are spacious, and commercial areas are designed in separate areas to preserve the city’s appeal as a seashore resort. In 1995, the city of Netanya signed a twin city agreement with the coastal resort town of Bournemouth in England.
Today Netanya is home to a large population of English-speaking immigrants from the United Kingdom, USA, and Canada, as well as, Russian and French-speaking immigrants. At the end of June 2009 the city had a total population of over 180,000 out of which around 45,000 are new immigrants and expectations are for the population to grow to 350,000 residents by 2020.
In recent years, Netanya has seen a growing trend in the purchase of vacation homes by Diaspora Jews and more specifically by European Jews on the back of rising signs of anti-semitism in UK and France . The strong growth in purchases of Netanya real estate by overseas buyers was partly boosted by the French and Americans, but mostly by the British and in particular retirees. The recent inflow of British overseas buyers of property in Netanya was triggered by an amendment to British pension laws granting generous tax breaks and exemptions for potential investment in both residential and income-producing property in Israel and other countries.
Netanya has a multi-cultural flair and a very rich English and French community served by the presence and activities of Olim organizations in the city. At Beit Oleh America, the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel has a representative center, the Netanya AACI (www.netanyaaaci.org.il) which gives guidance to all Olim, Russian and Ethopian, as well as, English speakers and offers a full range of programs and activities to the English-speaking population from arts to exercise and Hebrew lessons.
The city offers ample choice of educational institutions including 200 kindergartens, 43 elementary schools, 19 junior high and high schools, four institutes of higher education such as the Netanya Academic College, the ORT Hermelin College of Engineering and the Wingate Sports Institute, and various religious schools.
EMPLOYMENT
In recent years industry and in particular the high-tech industry has grown rapidly in Netanya boasting four industrial parks including clean-tech industries, high-tech enterprises, shopping and leisure centers. Major global and local companies are today situated in and around Netanya’s industrial parks from international furniture megastore IKEA, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Cellcom, Paz, Delek Group, Granite Hacarmel, Sonol, SAREL Medical Supplies, Koor Trade, Eurocom, to HP Scitex and many more.
TRANSPORTATION
Netanya is connected to the main bus companies and offers convenient links to other major cities within less than an hour. The city serves a great connection point to the north and the south of the country and is situated less than a 30 minutes train ride from Tel Aviv, a 15 minutes ride from Herzliya in the south and a 50 minutes ride to Haifa and Nahariya in the north.
LINKS
Places to visit Netanya website
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