Israel’s housing market continues to cool
Only 8,300 housing units were sold in August, one of the lowest figures in the past decade
A survey for August released Monday by the Ministry of Finance chief economist shows that 8,300 housing units were sold during the month. The survey said that this was “one of the lowest figures for August in the past decade.”
The Finance Ministry is calling the state of the residential real estate sector “stagnation,” and says that the period began in early 2017.
The chief economist’s figures also show a 17% drop in sales of new homes, excluding homes included in the buyer fixed price plan. The proportion of purchases by investors continues to be low, and the downtrend in home purchases by people seeking better housing is also picking up steam.
According to the chief economist, the number of homes sold in August was 3% fewer than in the preceding month and 13% fewer than in August 2016.
The chief economist reported that contractors had sold a mere 2,400 new housing units in August, 4% fewer than in July and 18% fewer than in August 2016. At the same time, excluding homes sold in the framework of the buyer fixed price plan during this period, 2,100 new homes were sold, 7% more than in the preceding month, but 17% fewer than in August 2016.
“Since April 2017, the average price in new housing transactions has been on a downtrend (due at least partially to a change in the mix of the transactions),” the survey summarized.