Home sales in north at 2-year high

The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that there was a 0.3% fall in the private construction housing inventory in January 2010 compared with the preceding month. At the end of January there were 8,052 new apartments for sale, which at the rate of sales in January would last for 7.4 months, up from 7.3 months in December.

The Central Bureau of Statistics data also found a 15% rise in demand for apartments in January to 2,769 apartments up from 2,408 in December 2009. This figure is calculated by adding the number of new apartments sold and the number of new building starts,

The sale of privately-built homes totalled 1,071 in January, a rise of 5.6% compared with the preceding month. 392 were sold in the central district, 271 in Tel Aviv and 67 in Jerusalem. The 59 homes sold in the north of the country was the highest monthly figure since the end of 2007.

Compared with the corresponding month of last year, there was a fall of 1% in the demand for new homes, a fall of 5.6% in the sale of new homes and a 25.6% fall in the inventory.

Apartment prices rose 1% in December. This was the 12th consecutive month of rises according to the Central Bureau of Statistics survey of apartment prices which was published last week. In 2009, prices rose 18.7% and have climbed 36.8% since mid-2007.

Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Attias has inaugurated a policy in recent months of flooding the real estate market with land in order to lower prices. Attias pledged to stop the rise in the prices of apartments and that towards the end of 2010 prices would start falling "in no small measure" in his words.

The Central Bureau of Statistics also reported today that 29% of demand for apartments in January was in the center of the country, 20% in the north and 20% in the south.

The figures also show that the apartment inventory in the Jerusalem district in January is enough to last for 18 months, in Tel Aviv district for eight months and the central and southern districts for seven months, and in Haifa and the north for four months.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 23, 2010