Mortgage taking in Israel slumped to NIS 4.61 billion in April 2023, the Bank of Israel reports - the lowest monthly figure since October 2019. Despite rising interest rates, the low figure is partly explained by the large number of holidays last month. In March 2023 mortgage taking amounted to NIS 6.783 billion, a slight rise compared with the previous month, after four consecutive months of declines. March 2022 saw an all-time record high in mortgage taking with loans totaling NIS 13.432 billion taken, triple last month's amount. RELATED ARTICLES March mortgage taking reflects housing market crisis Sharp decline in housing deals drives out agents Developers' special offers cutting new apartment prices At the start of 2023 mortgage taking returned to 2020 levels while last month they have now retreated to 2019 levels. Mortgage taking averaged NIS 5.639 billion per month in 2019 and NIS 4.964 billion per month in 2018. So far in 2023, mortgage taking has averaged NIS 5.871 billion per month. Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 10, 2023. © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.