What's really happening in the Israel Real Estate market?
It's been nearly 4 months since what we might call a normal real estate market has been in play in Israel. What do I mean by normal? A real estate market where the normal market forces of "supply and demand", dictate the buying and selling activity, prices, etc.
Events in Israel and around the world over the course of the last 4 months have kept a lot of potential buyers out of the Israel real estate market as many who might be considering a property purchase, watched events unfold from the sidelines. First, in July and August, the tent protests which swept across Israel, had a dampening effect on potential buyer plans, then September rolled around and many people both inside and outside of Israel were pre-occupied about the Palestinian threat to seek statehood recognition at the U.N.. No sooner had that whole crisis passed when it was time for Rosh Hoshanah, Yom Kippur and the just concluded Sukkot holidays.
During this rather extraordinary period of time, there has been a great deal of speculation in the press and lots of discussion by industry leaders and government officials about the direction real estate prices in Israel may take.
While sales volume has definitely dropped significantly during this period of time, prices do not seem to have dropped significantly. Actually, a rather surprising statistic was just recently released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics stating that real estate prices in August of this year were actually up 0.8% over the previous month.
So what's the real story with the Israel Real Estate market? I think we will soon find out. My guess is many of those who have been on the sidelines will cautiously resume their property search and that it won't be long before the "market forces" of supply and demand will once again dictate prices.
by Lyle Plocher
October 23, 2011
