Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Bat Yam and Netanya are Israel's leading cities in terms of attracting investments in apartments, according to a survey for July from the Ministry of Finance's Chief Economist. The survey found that investing in housing remains 30% higher than average and exceptionally high in historic terms.
In July, the survey found that 13,100 homes were sold, 35% higher than July 2020, and 20% of the deals involved investors who bought 2,600 homes. At the same time investors sold a similar number of homes in July, so that sales and purchases of homes for investors balanced each other out.
Those purchasers buying apartments for investment focus on the big cities, with just a few exceptions. In July, Tel Aviv was in first place with 250 apartments sold to investors, followed by Haifa (180), Jerusalem (170), and Bat Yam and Netanya with 140 apartments each.
Among the top ten cities for investors buying apartments in Israel are Ashkelon and Eilat, which stand out because neither are one of Israel's top ten cities. On the other hand, Petah Tikva, which is Israel's fourth largest city, is ranked only ninth for purchasing apartments for investment. Herzliya, which is also not a large city was ranked 13th and Harish was 26th. Dimona was the 30th most popular city for home purchases for investment (20 apartments) tying with Kfar Saba.
The report distinguishes between investment patterns in Tel Aviv, where the price of the average home bought as an investment was NIS 5 million and Haifa where it was just NIS 1.2 million. This reflects the difference between buying an expensive apartment for investment and a relatively cheap apartment, which saves on lower rates of purchase tax and may result in higher returns.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 13, 2021
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