You found the place to get up-to-date information, tools, and advice for helping you make sound decisions throughout the process of buying, building and maintaining a home in Israel. All this is brought to you by our editor, professional in-house staff and selected experts in their respective fields.
The Israeli home-office: A new trend which may be here to stay
Establishing a functional workspace in your home is key to making this long-awaited transformation succeed. To help you do that, now and in the long-term, here are our top ten tips for a practical and beautiful (why not?) home office in Israel: Read more
Coronavirus: How it’s impacting the Israeli mortgage market
The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging strong. Nobody knows with any certainty if we, in Israel, are in the beginning, the middle, or towards the end of this ordeal. These are treacherous unchartered waters and it is unclear what the effects on the financial markets will be in the long term. While we are all... Read more
Purchase tax in Israel: New thresholds in 2020
Israel Tax Authority has published new thresholds for Mas Rechisha according to the Central Bureau of Statistics Prices of Dwellings Index for 2019. Mas Rechisha is an acquisition tax, or purchase tax, that a buyer is obligated to pay upon purchasing real estate in Israel. Once a contract is signed, a self-assessment must be filed with the Israel tax authorities, and paid in full, within 60 days. Read more
Mechir LeMishtaken: What does it mean for Foreign Buyers?
Considering the high cost of housing in Israel and the difficulty for many people – mostly young couples – to buy a home, Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, together with the Ministry of Construction & Housing, introduced the “Mechir Lemishtaken” (Buyer’s Price) scheme in 2016, to generate affordable housing and to slow down the escalation... Read more
100,000 apartments to be built in high-demand areas in the center of Israel on military bases
In what the Government has called “strategic inventory management of the housing crisis”, more than one thousand housing units will be constructed on land that is currently occupied by defense and military industry bases in the center of the country. The training, intelligence and communications bases will be vacated and relocated to the South of Israel. The huge compounds are located in the heart of the high-demand areas in Israel, where land is most expensive and property values highest. The compounds will be evacuated by 2022. Read more
Increase in property taxes on unoccupied apartments in Israel
The Municipality of Tel Aviv announced that it is increasing the property taxes (“arnona“) of approximately 1,400 “ghost apartments” to 220.78 NIS per square meter. Property taxes are between 50 and 85 NIS 85 per square meter for apartments in Tel Aviv up to 140 square meters (depending on the area in the city). On average, this... Read more
Mortgage rates in Israel — understanding the options available
In Israel, there are a large number of different mortgage options, rates and tracks available to home-buyers. Rates can be variable, fixed or semi-fixed; loans may be linked to an index; and banks can lend in various different currencies. These choices can be confusing especially to foreigners who are familiar with completely different mortgage offerings in their... Read more
Selecting your kitchen countertop in Israel
In recent years, an array of choices of countertops (collectively known as shayish) have become available in Israel, from granite, wood, engineered stone to glass. The majority of products are brands imported from major companies around the world, while some products are 'home-grown"or manufactured in Israel. The types of countertops available for kitchen and bathroom tops, can be divided into six main groups which are granite, engineered stone, synthetic, wood, stainless steel and glass countertop products. Read more
Madad, Housing Index and Building Index in Israel
The Madad, which is the Hebrew for Consumer Price Index (CPI) or rate of inflation, is followed very closely by Israelis since movements in the monthly index affect nearly every aspect in life from salaries, mortgages, housing, transportation costs or prices of fruit and vegetables, and other expenses. In brief, a number of very important income and other expense items of every household are linked fully or partially to monthly or quarterly inflation. Read more
Living the high life— Residential towers in Israel
Historically, apartments in Israel were small, damp and crowded. “Luxury” was a light fixture instead of a bare light bulb. Today, Israelis are working harder than ever throughout the day and into the night. They want their homes to be comfortable spaces to live and work, to reflect their success. Owners can customize apartments to... Read more