45-day OK for adding 25sqm,pergolas,etc.

The reform to simplify planning and building procedures is underway. The Prime Minister's Office announced the approval of the draft recommendations for the reform.The objective is to speed up the granting of building permits not only for developers(90 day procedure), but also for individuals seeking improvements to their homes, such as closing in a balcony , building a fence, addintions of up to 25 sqm or the installation of an elevator in an existing building.

Only 15% of rental contracts quoted in US$

Israelis have increasingly followed the call of Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer to stop fixing the prices of apartment rentals in dollars over the past two years as a result of the weakening of the greenback. "In the last two years rental agreements have switched from quoting dollar prices to prices in shekel," said Bank of Israel economists in a report to be published in the forthcoming Recent Economic Developments issue.Until 2007 contracts quoting dollar prices constituted about 90 percent of rental contracts; today the figure is 15%.In reaction to the highinflation era of the 1980s, Israelis began to quote prices of various items on the domestic market in dollars. In the housing market this practice continued for years even after inflation had fallen, until the recent fall in the dollar's value.

Buyers groups cost state more than NIS 500m

Buyers groups purchases land from private parties were not liable to VAT, which is not the case when a contractor makes a similar purchase. In addition, buyers groups do not pay VAT on development expenses. Since the homebuyer is a member of the buyers group that is building the building, there is no purchase tax either. Finally, since the buyers group is not a registered company, it saves the contractor's profit and VAT on it. 55% of buyers group operate in Tel Aviv, 25% in the Dan region, and 14% in the Sharon. In other words, more than 90% of buyers groups operate in metropolitan Tel Aviv. In addition, most of the homebuyers in buyers groups' projects buy the apartments for investment, not as residences.

New post office in RBS A, at last...!!

Intensive negotiations are currently underway in order to open the first and only branch of the post office in Ramat Bet Shemesh A.
The branch will be located in the brand new shopping mall on Nachal Timna and  Dolev which is about to open in the next month.
(to see pictures of the new mall click here)

Bank of Israel leaves interest rate unchanged

The bank says the decision "will help return inflation to within the target range and underpin the recovery in real activity."

Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer decided to leave the bank's key interest rate unchanged for October, at 0.75%. The bank said in its announcement, "The decision to keep the interest rate for October unchanged at 0.75 percent will help return inflation to within the target range and underpin the recovery in real activity, while supporting financial stability."

The continued recovery in economic activity and the expectation of faster growth in Israel and world wide suggest that the current environment is one of recovery from the recession. .

Interest rates of the leading central banks around the world are low, and are expected to remain unchanged during the next few months.