Booming mortgages

The mortgage market has been booming in the past year. If the rate of growth in the coming months resembles the rate in first half of the year, 2013 will see a record amount of new mortgages, in excess of NIS 50 billion.

The main factor driving the boom is the low interest rate, which the Bank of Israel itself has set. On one hand, the Bank of Israel is imposing restrictions on mortgages, while on the other hand, it is fueling mortgages with the low interest rate. Another factor contributing to the rise in mortgages is the VAT hike, which caused homebuyers to close deals before it came into effect. It seems that public is not waiting for government declarations about plans to lower home prices to materialize, because even if the government improves the situation in the real estate market, it will take a long time before the results of any measures taken will be seen.

Tnuva sells Beersheva site

Tnuva Food Industries has put up for sale its rights to the Beersheva wholesale market. The company has rights to half of the 17-dunam (4.25-acre) site, which has approved building rights for 44,000 square meters of office and residential space and 6,600 square meters of commercial space. In other words, Tnuva is selling all its rights to a lot zoned for 22,000 square meters of office and residential space and 3,300 square meters of commercial space.

In which group are you?

Bank of Israel divided the real estate buyers into three main groups:

One. First apartment loan - if a loan for the purchase of your first apartment. In this case the maximum financing rate will be 75%.

Two. Improved housing units - now the banks are not allowed to give mortgages over 70% for this group.

Three. Investors - in the case of buying a home for investment the financing rate will be 50%. The directive includes the purchase of foreign residents.

Bank of Israel hopes that the measures will not hurt too much the ability of young couples to buy their first apartment.

The directive enter into force on 01.11.2012.

Home prices in coastal cities

A study by the Gazit-Globe Real Estate Research Institute at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya found that home prices in coastal cities rose by 35-56% in 2007-11, with Ashdod leading the gain. Home prices rose by 39% in Tel Aviv in 2007-11 and by 74% in 2000-11.

The rise in home prices was reflected in the mortgage market. Bank of Israel data show a 65.2% of mortgages in January-November were taken for homes costing more than NIS 1.2 million, including 29% of mortgages for homes costing more than NIS 2 million.

The banks believe that the strong trends in the housing market will continue in 2013, although dramatic steps in the housing market, if any, by the new government could turn things around.

New home sales

Housing demand fell in November 2012 alongside a rise in new home sales. New home sales rose by 16% in November, compared with October. 
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports a 17% drop in demand for new apartments in November, compared with October. due to a 45% slump in new apartments not available for sale (homes built by the resident or by buyers groups, rental apartments, etc.)

The Lowest Shopping Center in the World

International real estate firm Bercleys today unveiled its plan to build a new mall in the area of the Dead Sea hotels at Ein Bokek. The single-story 10,000-square meter shopping center will cost NIS 200 million to build.

Investors stormed the apartments in the periphery

The real estate investments in August rose to 24% after the three previous months that stabilized at 23%. Preliminary data for September shows a further increase close to 26%. Due to a sharp increase of 20% for investors in Haifa, Tel Aviv area stands out with a sharp decline of 24% in the number of apartments purchased for investment in August.

Starts on small apartments up 42% in 2011

Three-room apartment starts rose to 2,726 in 2011 from 1,914 in 2010 according to figures released from the Central Bureau of Statistics
The largest change in housing starts for small apartments was in Haifa, with a 170% increase, from 34 apartments in 2010 to 92  in 2011. In Jerusalem,  it rose 138% from 115 in 2010 to 274 in 2011 and In Tel Aviv,  it rose almost 50% to 660 apartments in 2011( from 442  in 2010)

The idea of building smaller apartments is to comply with the heavy demand by first home buyers and to make them more affordable.

IMF stress tests find Israeli banks sound

 In the event of the collapse of the largest borrower group, banks would 
lose 8.5-12.6% of their core capital - i.e. NIS 6-9 billion.
The Bank of Israel published the results of the stress tests conducted by 
the International Monetary fund (IMF)  on Israel's banking system.
The tests found that Israel's banks are stable and in good shape to 
withstand shocks.

Israel Real Estate Market

Israel world's third hottest real estate market behind China and Hong Kong on 5 year home price rises despite a 1.2% fall in 2011
 After an interest rate cut from 3.25% to 2.5% last February, there appears to be resurgence in property demand, with new mortgages issued by banks jumping by more than 14% in March compared to the two pervious months.

Home prices rebound

The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that home prices rose 0.6% in December 2011 compared to the previous month (based on the home price index).
At the end of the third quarter of 2011, the price of an average Israeli home (excluding new homes) stood at NIS 1.08 million

How much costs to buy a house?

Home prices double OECD average in salary terms
Israelis need 191 average salaries to buy a five-room apartment, double the
OECD average of 96 monthly salaries.
90 salaries are needed to buy an apartment in France,
71 salaries are needed in the UK,
60 salaries in the US,
54 salaries in Germany,
30 salaries in Sweden.
In Israel, 138 salaries are needed to buy a four-room apartment, and 91
salaries are needed to buy a three-room apartment

Aliah to Israel in 2011; number of households per city

1, 598 households in Jerusalem

895 Haifa

728 Zfat

645 Natania

643 Beer sheva

562 Tel aviv

Leumi Mortgage Bank CEO : Home prices won't fall dramatically

In response to the question of what will happen to apartment prices,Shuki
Burshstein does not have a clear-cut answer,"It is extremely difficult to
say what will happen in the future, since on the one hand we are in the
midst of a global crisis that is harming the Israeli economy, and growth has
slowed, but on the other hand, there is natural population growth, and
people have a real need for a place to live. How will this balance out? I
cannot estimate." It has been claimed that there will be fewer housing starts due to
contractors' inability to get easy finance , and that eventually prices will
once again rise.

Labor chairwoman MK Shelly Yacimovich disclosed a Housing Ministry document
limiting eligibility for purchasing public housing to families with at least
six children.
This measure, she added, benefits constituents of Minister of Housing and
Construction Ariel Atias, a member of the Shas party.
Current eligibility rules for buying public housing are: homeless,
handicapped persons and their families, residents of public housing that
lack handicap access, and new immigrants

Plans approved for Israel's tallest building:

The plan allows for building a 70-storey skyscraper in Givatayim near Tel Aviv.
Israel's current tallest skyscraper is the 69-storey (84,000-square meter) Moshe Aviv Tower in the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange adjacent to Tel Aviv.

Israel's unemployment rate falls to all-time low

Israel's unemployment rate fell to 5% of the civilian labor force in October 2011, an all-time low, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today.

There has been a steady monthly decline of 0.1-0.2% in the unemployment rate since January, falling from 6.2% in January to 5.6% in May and 5% in October 2011.

The figures are surprising, given that economic activity is declining, including by labor-intensive export-oriented manufacturing. However, the unemployment rate is the economic indicator with the longest time-lag in its response to changes in activity.

Shekel strengthens after interest rate decision

The Bank of Israel left the interest rate unchanged at 2.75% against analysts' expectations of a fall of 25 basis points. In addition, it cut its 2012 growth forecast to 2.8% from 3.2%, due to unstable global economic conditions resulting from the European debt crisis.

Auditor General Micha Lindenstrauss slammed the Housing Ministry on its conduct in "vacate-and-build" projects.

Atias said, "Even in projects marketed to one developer, there is huge bureaucracy for vacate-and-build. It takes 5-6 years for a project to come into effect. Residents incorporate to find a contract; we don’t decide on the contract, because this is people's property… In the final stage, when the contractor is chosen, the residents want to get more. This is a problem for the contractor. They think that they'll make the fortune of their lives from the project.

Atias further added : "It's hard to execute these projects in the periphery. As a result, the Negev and Galilee get screwed ,it's frustrating to see how the wheels of state don’t work. "Vacate-and-build" is a great idea that doesn’t work for solving the problem of old apartments and building affordable housing".

Rents up 10% in two years

The summer's social protest had no effect on the trend.

The Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel reports that the percentage of renters rose from 27% of the population in 1995 to 34% in 2008. High home prices, and the fact that most Israelis prefer to live in the center of the country, have caused renting to become increasingly prevalent.
The low supply of homes, including rental homes, is driving up rents. Moreover, the current measure to temporarily exempt the sale of second apartments from the betterment tax, is inadvertently liable to aggravate the shortage of rental apartments by reducing the inventory of second apartments that are rented out by their investor/owners.

A further aggravation :the supply of public housing has fallen over the years as the result of government campaigns to sell these apartments to their tenants, whilst not building new ones.