Drop in number of flats sold in first quarter of year
April sees high sales average; Tel Aviv and central Israel are main places to suffer from drops, but continue to be most wanted residential areas
An average of 1,060 flats was sold in each of the first four months of the year, compared to an average of 1,110 flats sold in the last quarter of 2006.
Some 1,170 apartments were sold in April alone. Half of the flats sold in April were sold within about nine months from the start of their construction, while on average about a year passes since the start of an apartment's construction and its sale.
The data also revealed that the Tel Aviv and central regions continue to be the mast wanted residential areas. Thirty-four percent of the apartments sold in the first quarter of the year were located in the center, 30 percent in Tel Aviv, and only 4.4 percent in the north.
Twenty-seven of the flats sold in the center and 24 percent of those sold in the Tel Aviv area were sold on the first month of their construction.
Compared to the same quarter last year, however, the first quarter of 2007 saw a 19.4-percent drop in the sale of apartments in Tel Aviv, a 14.2-percent drop in the sale of apartments in the center and an 11.2-percent drop in the sale of flats in Jerusalem.
A rise of 2.5 percent (196 apartments) was noted in Haifa, while the sale of apartments in southern region was up 4.17 percent.
Highest number of unsold flats in center
Meanwhile, the inventory of apartments left for sale in a quarter dropped by 3.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.
Out of the total number of unsold flats by the end of April, more than 10,000 were in different stages of construction.
The apartments which had not been sold during the quarter had been on the market for 15 months on average. Thirty percent of those flats were being offered for sale in the center of Israel, and about 29 percent were being offered in Tel Aviv.
