There were 9,445 building starts of home in Israel in the second quarter of 2020, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, down 27% from the corresponding quarter of 2019 and down 29% from the preceding quarter of 2020. This was the lowest figure in building starts for a quarter since the third quarter of 2012. The low figure can be attributed to the Covid-19 crisis and the first lockdown in April but building starts picked up in May and June. RELATED ARTICLES More homes being built in Tel Aviv than any other city Building starts continue to fall Leumi: After short-term slowdown, housing prices to rise In addition to the pandemic, the residential construction industry is afflicted by other problems including a lack of workers, problems with marketing by the Israel Land Authority (ILA) and to cap it all the resignation yesterday of Minister of Construction and Housing Yaakov Litzman. The fall in building starts was strongest in Jerusalem where there was a 64% fall in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the second quarter of 2019. Building starts fell 43% in the south, 39% in Haifa, 25% in Tel Aviv, 16% in central Israel and actually rose by 23% in northern Israel. en.globes.co.il - on September 14, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020 .
