Beersheva
BeershevaFlash90

Despite ongoing efforts by the government to bring down the prices of homes in Israel, real estate prices just keep rising.

Nationally, home prices rose 1% in the second quarter of 2013, for a 5% rise in the 12 months ending June 2013, according to figures by the government released Sunday.

Some areas did better than others, though. In Herzliya and Beersheva, home prices rose 10% from the second quarter of 2012 through the beginning of July. A four room apartment in those cities now sells respectively for NIS 1.9 million and NIS 815,000 on average.

However, homeowners in other parts of the country also prospered – and in fact, prices did not decline anywhere in the 16 largest cities in Israel, according to the figures.

According to experts, Beersheva prices rose because of several factors, including the new roads and train lines to the city, which have convinced many residents of the center of the country that they can commute to work in the Tel Aviv area in a reasonable amount of time. In addition, new industries developing in Beersheva, including high-tech businesses, have attracted employees to several newly built high-tech industrial parks that have recently been built.

According to real estate experts, prices are expected to continue rising at a faster than average pace in Beersheva, as the IDF proceeds with is construction of a huge technology center in the city, as well as construction of a large base for the intake of new recruits, and the transfer of many of the administrative offices to Beersheva from the Ministry of Defense compound in Tel Aviv.