4room apartments rise in 2015

We have figures for areas like Ashkelon rising at 15%

Beersheva also at 15% & Modi’in rose by 9%.

So where is Beit Shemesh? Have 4 room apartments risen as well?

 

Here is an indication of 4 room apartments that have sold

in the Schienfeld area:

 

 

Sales in Givat sharett, Beit Shemesh area

 

 

*יום מכירה	*תמורה מוצהרת	ישוב	שטח	חדרים
20/05/2015	1,037,000 ₪	בית שמש	63	3.0
04/06/2015	1,565,000 ₪	בית שמש	100	4.0
14/05/2015	900,000 ₪	בית שמש	81	3.0
21/06/2015	900,000 ₪	בית שמש	67	3.0
22/06/2015	1,050,000 ₪	בית שמש	116	6.0
30/07/2015	980,000 ₪	בית שמש	74	3.0
13/08/2015	1,000,000 ₪	בית שמש	82	4.0
17/08/2015	965,000 ₪	בית שמש	63	3.0
12/11/2015	920,000 ₪	בית שמש	63	3.0
06/12/2015	990,000 ₪	בית שמש	67	3.0

 

Kiryat Gat & Jerusalem

Real Estate in Israel is constantly changing , growing, and giving families many options.Hopefully as part of these  positive changes our greenery, forests, are also taken into consideration.

Kiryat Gat and Jerusalem’s prices keep rising as expansion keeps growing.

The National Planning and Building Committee for Priority Residential Sites will approve the expansion of Kiryat Gat.The plan will add 9,500 housing units with 25% of it consisting of 80-sq.m. apartments.

It will also include 40,000 sq.m. in business space in the residential neighborhood, 16,000 sq.m. of commercial frontage, public buildings and institutions, plus  open space .

In Jerusalem, the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood, 59 housing units will be demolished  making way for  new buildings that will have a total of 255 new housing units.Part of the plan is to make room for the Jerusalem Light Rail train. The intention is to maintain the characteristic of the neighborhood while bringing in new improvements.

Ashkelon not the place for you, what about Netanya?

The approved plan is for 3,000 units. There will be a park with the construction of 3 main roads.For further details :

http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-netanyas-new-3000-home-neighborhood-1001078122

 

 

Want to live near the beach? Ashkelon can make your dream come true

30,000 homes will be built with  an agreement that  included the building of three new highway junctions and an advanced public transportation system.Besides this construction the Tourism Ministry has just approved construction of a new hotel for the coastal city of Ashkelon. This is part of a project to invest in the re-establishment of tourism to the south .

The Ashkelon Municipality has signed the largest-ever umbrella agreement with the government that will ensure the city’s rapid growth in the coming years. The agreement calls for the construction of 30,000 housing units in seven new neighborhoods, which will make Ashkelon the country’s sixth-largest city by 2025.

Ashkelon is currently Israel’s 13th-largest city, with a population of 135,000, according to the Globes-Duns 100 rankings……….

http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-agreement-signed-will-add-30000-homes-to-ashkelon-1001077492

 

 

More three-room apartments were started in January-June 2015 than in all of 2014

Globes

By Ori Chudy

After years of decline in building starts for three-room apartments, Ministry of Construction and Housing figures for building starts in the first quarter of 2015 show an increase in the number of small apartments started. In addition, adjusted Central Bureau of Statistics figures for the first half of 2015 also indicate a surge in construction of these apartments.

According to the Ministry of Construction and Housing figures, construction began on 680 three-room apartments in the first quarter of the year, 5.5% of all the building starts in the quarter. Three-room apartments started totaled 1,764 in 2014, only 4% of all building starts that year, an average of only 441 per quarter, 239 (50%) fewer than the number in the first quarter of 2015.

The Central Bureau of Statistics’ adjusted figures for the first half of 2015 show that construction of no fewer than 1,871 three-room apartments began in January-June., including 1,191 three-room apartments in the second quarter, 57% more than in the first quarter. The first half total is more than the 1,764 three-room apartments begun in all of 2014. The standout cities in beginning construction on three-room apartments were Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Jerusalem, Ramat Gan, and Beit Shemesh.

Continuation of the article – http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-small-apartment-building-starts-up-sharply-in-israel-1001072256

Housing cabinet approves plans to boost housing supply

By Niv Elis

The housing cabinet on Monday approved two plans to boost housing supply and bring down the cost of apartments, particularly for young couples and first-time buyers.

“Our younger generation has rights, not just obligations, ” Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said. “A roof over your head is a basic right, and it’s our duty to supple one.”

The plans will produce a “massive supply” of apartments aimed at young couples, both in the periphery and high-demand areas, he said.

The first of the plans will broaden a mechanism for doling out subsidized state land to developers who promise the lowest cost for their units. Young couples who are first-time buyers will have first dibs on the apartments, on condition that they do not sell them for five years.

A tenth of the apartments wil lalso be designated for local residents. The land subsidies can go as high as 80 percent of the appraised value of the land, benchmarked from the beginning of June.

In areas where the scheme is expected to have less of an impact, the state will also offer development subsidies of NIS 40,000 to 60,000. The Finance Ministry estimated the grants and subsidies of the whole program would amount to NIS 200,000 on average per apartment unit.

The second plan will allow construction projects that are already in the works to expand by 20% without needing additional approvals. The temporary order, which will apply to buildings that do not yet have a frame built, allows developers to get on=the=spot approval to add more units, on condition that half those units are small apartments (under 75 square meters) appropriate for young couples, and none of the units exceeds 150 sq.m.

The plan is intended to make a quick push for new apartments using existing infrastructure, thus sidestepping the lengthy and costly approval process and need to build further infrastructure to accommodate new buildings.

Local authorities will exact a fee from increased building that they can use toward developing public spaces.

Overall, the Finance Ministry expects its initiatives to get 82,000 units into the planning process by the end of 2015, 45,000 of which will be on state land. The Bank of Israel has estimated that the country needs roughly 40,000 to 45,000 construction starts each year to meet the growing demand for housing.

The plans must still be approved by the Knesset before becoming law.

 

Knesset approves Kahlon’s tax increases on apartments for investment

By Niv Elis

The Knesset on Monday approved Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s plan to increase taxes on apartments, a move intended to steer existing apartments out of the rental market and onto the sales market.

By making it more expensive for investors to buy apartments for renting out, the Finance Ministry hopes to keep more apartments on the market for home buyers, thus driving down the sales price.

The law will go into effect on June 24, not July 1 as earlier planned, in order to cover apartment buyers looking to quickly close deals ahead of the law coming into effect.

Tax rates will rise to 8 percent on apartments under NIS 1.12 million (currently at 5%), from NIS 1.12 m. to NIS 3.37m. (currently 6%) and from NIS 3.37m. to NIS 4.64m. (Currently 7%).  They will rise to 10% on apartments from NIS 4.64m. to NIS 15.47m. (currently 8%) and remain at 10% for apartments over NIS 15.47m.

“I’ve seen the entirety of things they (the Finance Ministry) want to do in housing, and for the first time we are talking about a serious process and, if it comes to fruition, we are on the right path,” said Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ).

Zionist Union MK Manuel Trajtenberg, who had run as his party’s nominee for finance minister, congratulated Kahlon for getting the ball rolling.

“This is the first step in the right direction after six years of absent policy for failed attempts to deal with the insane increase in home prices,” Trajtenberg said.

The bill hit a brief sang when opposition parties objected to how the new rules apply to siblings who inherit an apartment. The apartment would be considered an investment apartment only if three or more siblings inherit it.

“You must find a solution to inheriting siblings starting at two siblings, and not just from there up,” said Zionist Union MK Erel Margalit. “We should define ownership as over  ‘a portion of the apartment’ and not a third of an apartment.”

The treasury promised to address the issue within a month, and the provision of a temporary measure in the bill brought most of the opposition on board to support it.

Finance Ministry director-general Shay Badad noted that the policy was the first in a series of steps intended to increase the supply of housing, but said this step was one that could have an immediate, if limited, impact.

Every percentage increase in the purchase tax, he said, would reduce the market of investors by 10%.

Expected immigration of French Jews boosts demand for apartments

by Globes correspondent

The terrible events in France over the past few days and the expected wave of immigration of tens of thousands of French Jews will create demand in Israel’s property market, real estate developers and agents told Globes.

Eldar Real Estate Marketing expects the demand to focus on homes in the NIS 1.5 TO 2 m. price range.

  “Our forecast is that tens of thousands of Jews will seek to immigrate to Israel and create demand for thousands of new apartments,” Eldar CEO Ronny Cohen said.

France has more than 500,000 Jews, half of whom live in Paris. According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, a record 7,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel in 2014, double the previous year, while tens of thousands more inquired about moving here.

“Thousands of French people are currently looking for homes in Israel, and we saw this in the way they flocked to the last apartment fair that we held in Paris,” real-estate contractor Yossi Avrahami said.

Previously, it was thought that French Jews were only in the market for luxury apartments in Israel, but Cohen said: “Anti-Semitism has changed the demand of foreign residents. If foreign residents, mainly French bought only in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya and Ashdod, now the trend is extending to other locations because foreign residents are no longer buying an apartment as an investment but as a home to live in.”

According to Shaike, Nafha, a vice president of Effi CApital, which is building West Hadera’s Aqua family project in the Ein Yam neighborhood together with Amram Avraham: “We see more and more foreign residents, mainly french, buying apartments in Hadera. Most are looking to be close to the sea and their families in Israel. In the past, most of these foreign residents bought in Netanya and Tel Aviv . But with real-estate prices rising in these cities, people looking for apartments close to the seafront at more inexpensive prices have found them in Hadera. An apartment in the city is 50 percent of the price of a similar apartment with a sea view in Natanya.”

Shechter Group CEO Dedi Riesel said: “In the past month, seven French Jews bought apartments in the Jof Yam Club proje t in Or Akiva, not as an investment but to live in .”

French buyers are also interested in Afula and Ashkelon. According to Yoram Avisror, vice president of marketing for Avisror Moshe  & Sons Ltd.,which is building the Avisror Agamim project in Ashkelon: “Many foreign residents, mainly French, have recently discovered Ashkelon a new area of demand both because this is a developing sea resort, which is close to the center of the country, and because of attractive new neighborhoods with sane apartment prices.”

Rise in home prices starts to slow down

By Adi Ben-Israel

GLOBES

Home prices are rising at a slower rate, according to data released Sunday by the Government Assessor. Home prices rose just 0.3 percent in the third quarter in comparison with the second quarter.

In six cities there were even falls in prices, including in Tel Aviv, where the price of a four-room apartment fell 2% to NIS 2.7 million. 

The government Assessor’s survey examine prices on four-room apartments only, since these are the properties in highest demand in the Israeli housing market. “In the surveyed period, the trend of moderate price rises that has characterized the past year slowed to the point of halting altogether,” the Government Assessor’s report said. “At the end of March, the government’s decision on measures to bring down housing prices was published, among them the “target price” program and the plan for 0% VAT.

“In the surveyed period, these programs had not yet been implemented. Moreover, Operation Protective Edge took place in this period. These two factors led to a sharp fall in the number of transactions during the summer months, which was partly corrected during September, when there was rise in the number of transactions in comparison with previous months”

In Haifa, the price of four-room apartment fell 1% in the third quarter to NIS 1,277,000. In comparison with the third quarter of 2013, a rise of 3% was recorded. For the Jerusalem, there was a third-quarter rise of 4% to NIS 1,936,000 and a 12- month rise of 10%. In Modi’in, prices remained stable in the third quarter at 1,627,000 up 5% over the third quarter of 2013. In Herzliya, prices fell 2% in the third quarter to NIS 1,990,000 up 3% compared with 2013. In Netanay, prices rose 2% in the third quarter, up 4% compared with 2013.

According to Ministry of Construction and Housing data, the stock of unsold new housing units rose to 26,920 in the third quarter.

Rents rise 6.6%in a year nationwide

Price of average home increases despite fall in sales

By Ori Chudy and Shlomit Tzur

August is the most active month in the residential rental market, especially with the new academic year approaching. Added to the pressure this year is the expectation that promised government programs will make buying an apartment cheaper, which is encouraging potential buyers to continue renting and to renew leases.

Rents rose 1.1 percent nationally in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the first quarter and 6.6% compared with the corresponding quarter of 2013, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data.

Since 2007 , rents have risen an average of 64.2% nationwide. In Tel Aviv they increased 85% in seven years from NIS 3,067 per month in the second quarter of 2007 to NIS 5,671 in the second quarter of  2014. In 2007, rents for large apartments (4.5 TO 5 Rooms) in Tel Aviv were the highest in the country at  NIS 4,849 per month.Today they are NIS 5,671.

In the Sharon region, average rents have risen 73% since 2007, while rents for large apartments increased 785.

The lowest rents in the second quarter of 2014 were for small apartments (1.5 to 2 rooms) in Haifa and its Bayside suburbs, at NIS 1,654 per month. In 2007 they were also the lowest rents nationwide at NIS 1,250. That is still a  32.3% increase, with a  5.5% annual return on investment for landlords.Renting out an apartment in the North yielded an average return of 5.2%.

Returns on investment for small apartments were 4.5% in Haifa, 4.2% in the central region and 4.75 in the South.

The lowest return for landlords for renting out large apartments in Tel Aviv and in Haifa, at 2.5% in both cities, despite the difference in prices.

The slowdown in the sale of homes continued alongside rising apartment prices in the second quarter of 2014, Government Assessor Tal Alderotti reported Monday. The price of an average 4 room apartment in Israels six largest cities rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter and 6% in the 12 months ending in June.

Average home prices rose most sharply in Ramle (7%) in the second quarter, followed by Eilat (6%), Jerusalem and Modiin (4% each ). Prices rose 1% in Tel Aviv in the second quarter and 9% over the 12 months ending in June..

Prices fell 1% in Holon and 4% in Beersheba in the second quarter. There was no change in prices in Ashkelon, Herzliya, and Kfar Saba in the second quarter.

There was a major slowdown in home sales in the second quarter, mainly of new homes because of the governments plan to charge 0% VAT to new home buyers. However, the low number of deals did not stem rising prices.