Home prices continue rise

The average price of a four-room apartment crossed the NIS 1 million threshold for the first time.
Belying commitments by Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias to reduce apartment prices in 2010, prices rose at beginning of the year.
Apartment prices rose 1.6% in January, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)reported last week
Property prices in Israel have been rising steadily since January 2009 by 19% in the 12 months through January 2010. The CBS reports that the average apartment price at the end of December 2009 was NIS 929,500. The average price of a four-room apartment, the most common size among Israeli homebuyers, crossed the NIS 1 million threshold for the first time, to NIS 1.02 million.

PRIVATE BIDS FOR 74 RBS RBS "G" LAND PLOTS already submitted recently

The Israel Land Authority accepted bids for 74 "bnei beitcha"(build your own house) houses in RBS Gimmel Many of this bids came from a surprising number of secular families from the old Bet Shemesh.These families want their children to settle in Bet Shemesh and viewed this as the opportunity to make that become a reality., yet there are other secular and traditional families who want to "upgrade" and this is their only opportunity since nothing else is being planned in the whole city to cater for their needs.

RBS residents could soon add 40sqm to their homes

The city of Bet Shemesh is planning to allow all home owners whose properties are 10 years old or older in all of Ramat bet Shemsh A and part of B
to legally add an up to 40 square meters to their existing homes .
This will increase the cty's revenues twofold: by charging more rates (arnona) and by collecting fees for building licences.
They also aim at cutting the red tape, this will encourage people to aply for a building permit and not have to do it illegally with all the penalties involved.
In addition to the above measure, the municipality plans to employ more inspectors to "catch" those that add to their properties illegally.

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.

Haredi bidders win most new Beit Shemesh lots

The Israel Land Administration published, last week, the results of the tenders for land zoned for the construction of 2,000 apartments in Beit Shemesh.
Most of the winners of the tenders are contractors who focus on residential building for the ultra orthodox population in Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumim, Modiin, and Beit Shemesh, as well as Charedi non-profit organizations.The winners paid more than NIS 120 million altogether for the tenders. They will also pay NIS 160 million in development costs.

Consumer confidence rises

The rise in January follows two months of falling figures.
The Israel Consumer Confidence Index rose by three points in January 2010 after falling 1.1 points in December 2009 and 4.3 points in November.
Macroeconomic figures published during January point to economic expansion.The positive figures reinforce consumers' feeling that the economy is on the rebound.

Israeli Prime Minister to Cut bureaucracy, corruption in building sector

"There are young couples who are now stuck, and there are people packed in the narrow strip of Hadera, Gedera, and Jerusalem at astronomical apartment prices. These are the land prices because there is no land. As a result, more and more young couples are living with their parents. Israelis consider an apartment as a lofty dream for which they must mortgage their lives in order to achieve. We're taking steps to change that" said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In other words, prices are set by market forces(the theory of demand and supply) but at least these proposed reforms will ensure that many prospective buyers will consider enlarging their homes rather than selling and buying bigger ones, hopefully these measures will then stabilize prices somehow.
The reform, beginning with the new planning and building law, aims at improving the transparency and accessibility of all planning and building applications, as well as setting deadlines for the granting of permits and aims to shorten and simplify planning and building licensing procedures, while improving the quality of construction.
Netanyahu said that Israel was in first place on the number of computers per household, but 120th in time needed to obtain a building permit!.
"End the system of planning and building commissions' meeting behind closed doors. Everything will be displayed on the Internet. We want transparency. We'll set up a special Police unit to fight corruption in planning and building." He added.