Gidon Katz, initiator and producer of the Israel Real Estate Expo, spoke to Meir Sand, Chief Executive Officer of the Sand Real Estate Group and one of the participants who has a lot of experience in the real estate market in Israel, on what is going on today in Israel and how it reflects on those who want to buy from overseas.
Meir Sand spoke about the changes in the real estate market in Israel in the last two to three years, and said that, “Since October 7th, since the war started, there's a feeling that the market at the beginning froze. There was a lot of unclarity, a lot of people didn't really know whether they wanted to continue buying, where would they buy. Because of that unclarity a lot of people had to change their way of life. For example, my brother and I both had to serve in reserves for over 100 days up north, so there was a lot of unclarity, and the market froze. I think also that the developers themselves didn't really know how they want to move ahead and what kind of marketing they want to do.”
Sand explains that, “In the second quarter of 2024, and that's something that you normally see especially after wars, and especially after the market freezes for a while, you see a boom, a lot of people are more interested in buying. Even though the war hasn’t ended yet, people are having some more clarity, whether it's people from the US, Europe or anywhere in the world and also Israelis over here that want to continue living their life, want to know for sure now that Israel is the place for them and that they want to buy over here. Also, people who weren't sure if they want to make aliyah, if they want to invest, they want to have a place where they could come more often, now they know where they want to come. They know that they want to build those communities here and want to have their roots here.”
Sand explains that those who started the buying process are still moving forward with their plans, because “When the market freezes because of situations, like a war or a pandemic or anything like that, it creates opportunities and the Israeli market today created a lot of opportunities, because developers haven't sold for a while, so they had to come in with better deals, allowing to have different options of payment schedules, for example, instead of having to pay according to the stages of construction, today a lot of different developers will allow you to buy in with a 10:90, which means 10% up front and 90% by completion, or 20:80. It's also a time where you could try negotiating, that being said, right now the developers have already gone back and started selling, so this is the time to buy, more than anything other time.”
“So there are definitely more people who are making aliyah and also more people who want to buy, whether it's to make aliyah, or it's for an investment, for a different purpose. Some people buy when they want to make aliyah, normally ages between 20 to early 30s, some when people retire after 65. There are a lot of people who want to buy apartments in Israel, maybe because their children already live here and because they want to start visiting more often. Also today people want to know that they have some sort of an insurance policy. They want to make sure that they have their place in Israel. They want to make sure that when the time comes and they want to make aliyah, that they'll have the place, because it's not always easy for them to leave everything behind, to leave their children, to leave their jobs, and everything else, but they’re planning ahead,” says Sand.
He adds that, “At the end of the day, for someone to make aliyah, he has to leave all of his comfort zone. So, if he knows that he buys in a place where he already has a community where he has a place where he feels comfortable that eventually he'll move there it makes it much easier for him. All over Israel you'll see that there are locations that have more Anglos living there, because they want to be a part of a community. They want to be a part of a North American community, of a place that speaks their language. You'll see those places, if it's in Jerusalem, you'll see it in Baka and Talbiye and those areas, and if it's all over Israel, you have it in Raanana, in Carmei Gat, you have a lot of new younger families who are moving to those places, because they want to be a part of a community, they want to be near their friends and family.”
Sand tells of “A project currently being built in Jerusalem, that is built in a way where we could make prices more affordable, because of the location. Instead of having to go to the most expensive locations in Jerusalem, like Talbiye, or Katamon or Baka, we come in with a group. Specifically in this project in Katamonim we brought a rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Silver from Baltimore is going to be the head of the community and we have other Rabbis from different communities all over North America. But at the end of the day people want to know who they're living next to. They want to know that they have their friends there, that they have a community, that they have a place where they would have their programs, where they would have their shul, where they could have shiurim, whether it's to actually make aliyah full-time or even to use it as a satellite community, where they come for the chagim, where they come more in the summers, where they come visit more and they know that they have a place, that even if they want to have their smachot over there, they want to have their friends over there, they have it there fulltime.”
“For a lot of the people buying here, it's a second apartment. Those who are not buying it as a second apartment, they're planning on changing their way of life and making aliyah, so this is a place where you could come and learn more. You could hear different developers, different projects in different areas in Israel, you could hear from different experts, whether it's lawyers, mortgage brokers, insurance. You could understand exactly how the process works and what it is that you need to do in order to create to get that dream of yours – of buying an apartment here in Israel.”