Houses
HousesIsrael news photo: archive



Industry experts say that Israel's real estate market is healthy, as it is not plagued by the overvaluation and mortgage problems that have hit the United States and Europe with such severity.

Unlike nearly anywhere else in the world right now, Israel's real estate market is thriving. Home sales in Israel jumped 57% in June of this year, compared to the same month in 2008. June 2009 saw 1,540 homes sold nationwide, compared to just 980 a year earlier.

The Jerusalem area, where 30% of all apartments sold were located, has become one of the country's hottest areas. Overall, 92% more apartments were sold in the Yerushalayim area during the first half of 2009, compared to the same period a year earlier.

The figures, released by the Central Bureau of Statistics this week, show that the stock of available apartments continues to drop sharply. With construction down – 38% fewer apartments are being built now nationwide, as compared with two years ago – the numbers of available housing units has fallen by over a fifth in the past year, the CBS report said.

As a result, prices for homes are climbing: Apartments cost 5.5% more now than they did three months ago, and prices have climbed by 25% in the past two years. Experts in the real estate field who were quoted in the report said that prices could continue to climb – as much as 20% in the next two years, and up to 45% by 2012.  

Low mortgage rates and an uncertain investment situation have made real estate an attractive investment that will likely continue to climb, the report said. Currently, prices are at the highest they have been since 2002, it said. Industry experts say that Israel's real estate market is healthy, as it is not plagued by the overvaluation and mortgage problems that have hit the United States and Europe with such severity.

It's not just the real estate market that is doing well; so is the real estate agent market, so much so that organizations, such as real estate agencies that run training courses for Israelis who wish to enter the field, report that there is a waiting list to enter their courses. Applicants to the courses include a fair number of former hi-tech workers, industry experts told the News1 website Tuesday. "The interest in these courses is unprecendented," said one industry expert quoted by the site.

"At the current rate, we will have trained 400 new agents by the end of the year. We only have 500 people on our staff nationwide." The expert noted, however, that not all graduates would be hired by the company – and that students were well aware of that fact.