Conflict doesn’t hurt home prices long term, study finds In Israel, war does not cool the real estate market.

The unsettled security situation in the south caught the real estate market at a bad time: a freeze that has lasted for several months, combined with the protest movement. This reality again raised the question whether the security situation affects housing demand and prices. Since the latest clashes are too fresh to draw any conclusions, "Globes" examined previous confrontations. Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, Operation Cast Lead, lasted from December 2008 through January 18, 2009. Euro Israel Development and Investment Ltd. builds homes in the south. CEO Ofra Hadad told "Globes", "People sold in a panic, lowering asking prices by tens of thousands of shekels, especially in Sderot and Ashkelon, because there seemed to be no solution to the situation. Buyers at that time profited later." Hadad says that once Operation Cast Lead was over, it took time for the real estate market to recover. "After the campaign, there was a six-month slowdown. There were no deals, but once normalcy was restored, people rushed to buy apartments, and prices began to rise," she says. Hadad believes that the Iron Dome anti-rocket batteries have changed the situation. "There's a slowdown," she admits, but believes that "things will get back to normal within days after everything ends." Dr. Danny Ben-Shahar and Dr. Yuval Arbel of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology's Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Dr. Yosef Toubul of the Jerusalem College of Technology, and Prof. Stuart Gabrial of UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate carried out a study to see whether the security situation affects home prices. Their findings do not support Hadad's confidence. The study examined the effect of firing on the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo on home prices there. Between October 2000 and April 2003, Gilo was frequently hit by fire from Beit Jala in the Palestinian Authority. Some apartments were at direct risk, while apartments that were not in the line of fire were nonetheless affected by the conditions. The study found that prices for apartments in the direct line of fire were 8% lower than similar apartments in the neighborhood. The study also found that home prices in the entire neighborhood, and not only for apartments in the line of fire, fell by 10%, and only recovered two years after calm was restored. Ben-Shahar told "Globes" that, at the peak of the shooting, apartment prices fell by 17%. "The riskier areas took longer to recover. Prices recovered 14 months after the shooting stopped." Classified ads site Yad2 CEO Roy Segev told "Globes", "The figures unequivocally show that apartment supply and prices have not fallen since Operation Cast Lead; on the contrary." He believes only a prolonged security crisis can affect prices. "We adapt to everything. Crises pass and things quickly get back to normal." Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel southern district chairman Eli Avisror agrees that real estate in the south is not affected by security incidents. As in the rest of the country, he told "Globes", "Prices jumped after Operation Cast Lead." Sderot is one of the towns that took the greatest number of hits by rockets fired from Gaza. As in other southern towns, the security situation did not stop prices from rising in Sderot. Alex Aviram, a realtor in Sderot for 15 years, told "Globes" that prices for three-room apartments doubled within three years. "Today, the security situation does not affect real estate in the town. Most people have safe rooms." The situation in Gilo is different from southern towns which still face security threats. But Ben-Shahar believes that the results of his study are applicable, and that cities such as Beesheva, Ashkelon, and Ashdod, which take fewer hits from rockets, need less time to return to routine, including home prices. Prices in towns with more incidents, such as Sderot, need more time to recover. Between July 21 and August 14, 2006, all residents of northern Israel lived in air raid shelters, during the Second Lebanon War. ZMH Hammerman Ltd. (TASE:ZMH) marketed homes in Carmiel and Tirat Hacarmel and was building a residential project in Haifa at the time. CEO Haim Feiglin says that the war had an immediate impact on prices, but that it had no long-term effect at all. "During the war, sales ground to a complete stop. Not just at the time, but for months afterwards," he told "Globes". Feiglin says that buyers returned to the company's sales offices after six months, and that prices did not fall. The soaring home prices nationwide did not omit northern Israel. "Five years after the war, and prices are much higher than before it," he says, adding, "Israelis are inured. We've seen a lot, and we know how to get back to normal." Feiglin remembers that there was a strong trend of home improvement after the war, with people moving to homes with safe rooms. "People realized the importance of reinforced rooms when they found themselves unprotected during the war. People were looking for safe rooms. We felt the demand at our sales offices," he says.

Netanyahu admits: There is no land to sell in 2012

"Last year, the Land Administration marketed all the available land inventory for residential construction."
2012 will apparently be a catastrophic year for the marketing of land by the Israel Land Administration. We know this because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explicitly said so.

A statement entitled, "FAQs about National Housing Committees Law" lists the advantages of the law and the positive effects it will have on the housing market. One of the questions that the prime minister had to deal with, as his statement puts it, "The opponents claim that there are 160,000 housing units the building of which could begin immediately."

The full answer to this question is, "Not true. There is no substantial planning inventory of state-owned land available for residences. Last year, the Israel Land Administration and the Ministry of Housing and Construction marketed all the available land inventory for residential construction, effectively scraping the bottom of the barrel."

Cutting to the chase, Netanyahu says that the Israel Land Administration has no available land to sell in 2012.

After Israel Land Administration director Yaron Bibi met the government's target of marketing land for 25,000 housing units a year, for two years, there is concern about a severe crisis and risk of another price spiral.

Cabinet approves NIS 100,000 per couple housing grants

The list of places where the grants will apply was also approved.
Arad, Mitzpeh Ramon, Netivot, Ofakim, Sderot, and Yeruham, in the Negev; Acre, Beit She'an, Carmiel, Hatzor Haglilit, Kiryat Shmona, Naharia, Nazareth, Upper Nazareth, Safed, Shlomi, Tiberias and Yefia, in the Galilee. Settlements in Judea and Samaria will be reviewed separately. Although the list of towns is final, it could be subject to revisions after four years, when towns may be added to or relegated from the list

Minister of finance imposes betterment tax on second homes from 2013

The exemption on investment apartments will apply until the end of 2012.
His plan for halting the rise in home prices includes ending the temporary
exemption on betterment taxes in December 2012, in order to encourage real
estate investors to sell second and subsequent apartments before 2013. The
current exemption(of selling up to 3 homes exempt from the tax instead of
only one evey 4 years) applies only in 2011-12.
The second measure aims to convert apartments used for businesses back to
residential use. The minister said:"Currently, 50,000 apartments or more,
mostly in central Israel, are used for businesses by dentists, lawyers, and
so on. We want to provide strong incentives to sell these properties by 2013
by giving a full exemption on the betterment tax," said the minister Israel Tax Authority director general is unimpressed by the above proposed
measure. He said:"I see almost no effect because I don't see these guys
selling their apartments so quickly,"(because the longer they hold on to
their apartments the more they will appreciate in price).

Mishkan Index shows homebuyers in worst position since 2003

Bank Hapoalim: The rise in home prices and the mortgage interest rate hikes
means homebuyers' conditions deteriorated further in February.

The average interest rate on 17-20 year housing loans (fixed-interest, CPI-linked loans) rose by 0.02 percentage points in February to 3.10% from 3javascript:void(0).08%. The average national wage barely changed. However, the unemployment rate fell to 6.1% in trend figures, which partly offset the drop in the index.

In mid-March, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported a 0.9% rise in home prices in February, and a 16.3% rise over the previous 12 months. Home prices have risen 60% since the low point in mid-2007.

The Mishkan Index examines the condition of homebuyers on the basis of four variables: home prices, the unemployment rate, mortgage interest rates, and the average national salary

Israel's skyscrapers are dwarfs

The global real estate industry is reaching for the sky, and new figures state that 2010 broke new records for skyscrapers,4 skyscrapers over 400 meters high were completed in 2010 worldwide, taking the first, fourth, seventh, and ninth places as the world's tallest buildings. There are now 12 skyscrapers over 400 meters high in the world.

Israel has only one building that qualifies as a skyscraper (over 200 meters high) - the Moshe Aviv Tower in Ramat Gan, which was completed in 2000. Despite all the construction going on, and the highly publicized tower, Israel is not taking its place in the world of skyscrapers.The ostensibly tall towers that we see in Israel are dwarfs compared with the skyscrapers under construction in the world today.Israel has the know-how to build skyscrapers , however, few developers want to build skyscrapers in Israel. The problem is that a developer who wants to build a skyscraper faces opposition from the Israel Airports Authority and other statutory bodies, which strangle such initiatives. Israeli citizens will therefore continue to look enviously at skyscraper construction around the world, in ostensibly Third World countries, and will only be left with the option of visiting these skyscrapers as tourists.Since skyscrapers are an excellent solution to a shortage of land( which is growing worse in Israel), they ought to be rising here,but...Israel's real estate market cannot cope with skyscrapers. First, the higher a building the higher the management and maintenance costs, rendering such buildings unsuitable for residences for most of the population,only the very welthy can afford it.Secondly, tall buildings are more suited to new neighborhoods where residents are less worried about saving their vistas, removing the problem of mass objections against the construction of high-rises in older neighborhoods.

Netanyahu looks to drastic housing measures

"We are raising entire generations who live with their parents. What's next? To
live with grandma and grandpa?"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will submit to the cabinet a new plan aimed at dealing with the housing shortage. The plan includes the construction of thousands of housing units nationwide over the next 18 months.

Netanyahu said"I have no illusions,there will be objections...". Netanyahu added, "We must take drastic action. I am determined to undertake this reform. We don’t have years. I am sick of waiting. We won't wait any more!"

Under Netanyahu's plan, national housing commissions will be established to bypass the bureaucracy of local and regional planning and building commissions, and will concentrate all decisions as a one-stop-shop.

The new commissions will be set up for 18-month periods. They are intended to deal with the housing shortage, which currently stands at 100,000 apartments. The reform was formulated together with Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz and Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias. It will apply only to apartments in the housing starts market above a certain height , which has not yet been decided . it will apply nationwide also including high demand areas.

"We must close the gaps," declared Netanyahu. "A combination of reforms at the Israel Land Administration and a road bypassing the planning commissions is the only way to deal with the housing shortage."