?Heading for a fall
Photo: Roee Idan
Survey: Apartment prices down 4.4%
Geocartography Research Institute says apartment prices in Israel are dropping
Real estate bubble bursting? Apartment prices in Israel
were down by 4.4% from July 2011 a survey carried out by the Geocartography Research Institute revealed Thursday.
According to the survey, from December 2010 to July 2011, apartment prices went up by 5.3% yet from the moment the social protest broke out, prices proceeded to drop. In January of this year prices were only 0.6% higher than December 2010.
2011 Summary
Avital Lahav
Central Bureau of Statistics report shows number of apartments sold or built last year totaled 37,744 – compared to 40,190 in 2010. Tel Aviv, Netanya see rise in demand
The data presented in the survey matches the data recently published by the Central Statistics Bureau and the Finance Ministry. The numbers may be slightly different, but the trend remains the same: Apartment prices are dropping.
According to the survey, prices in Tel Aviv, Ramat Ha'Sharon, Beit Shemesh and others dropped since December 2010 at a rate of between 5%-10%.
Meanwhile, Haifa was the odd-city-out as prices continued to rise, and in the last half of 2011 they were up by 2.6%. Still, prices in Haifa and the surrounding cities were still relatively low when compared with the national average.
According to Geocartography Managing Director Dr. Rina Degani, the data shows that "the government and Bank of Israel plans on one hand and the social protests on the other, have succeeded in achieving their common goal: Stop the price rise and even bring about a drop in prices."
"It is still unclear whether the prices will continue in their downward trend. The current environment which has brought about the drop in prices will continue for the next few months at least."
Yet Degani stressed: "We need to remember that Israel still lacks enough apartments to answer the needs of the ever growing number of households in Israel and the improvement in the average lifestyle."
