For the first time in 10 months: apartment prices are back up/Reuven Castro
After 10 months in which the average apartment prices showed a decrease of 1.4% in the annual calculation: it seems that in the fourth quarter of 2023, precisely after Black October, there was a reversal of trend in the housing market and a return to price increases, when at the end of the year the average price for an apartment jumped by 3.7%.
According to the housing price index of the Central Bureau of Statistics published at the end of the week - in the months of November-December, apartment prices rose by 0.7% compared to the months of October-November.
In addition, the prices of the new apartments alone increased in these two months by 0.9%.
We will mention this, even though the contractors have a high inventory of new, unsold apartments.
The CBS index shows that the average price of an apartment in Israel also climbed in the fourth quarter of the past year - at a rate of 2.3% compared to the third quarter, from NIS 2.104 million to NIS 2.153 million at the end of 2023, and as mentioned at a rate of 3.7% compared to the corresponding quarter last year , at that time the average price of an apartment was NIS 2.076 million.
With the help of Ohad Asraf, CEO and owner of Ari Magorim Group, we analyzed the data from the Central Bank and checked which cities are the most expensive (out of the 18 largest cities that have 100 thousand inhabitants or more ), where significant increases were recorded during the past year and where you can still buy apartments for less than a million shekels.
In the center of the country: where were there surprising declines?
When examining the change in apartment prices by city, a mixed trend can be seen.
The city where the highest price increase was recorded is Ramat Gan, with an increase of 8.6%;
Petah Tikva followed with 7.3%;
Beit Shemesh with an increase of 6.4%;
The increases are also noticeable in the southern cities - in Be'er Sheva prices rose by 4.2%;
Ashkelon by 3.8%;
and in Ashdod by 2.7%;
The city where the highest price drop was recorded is Rishon LeZion with a drop of 11.7%;
followed by Bat Yam and Holon with decreases of 5.3% and 5% respectively.
Tel Aviv is still the leader with an average price of NIS 3.9 million per apartment, but it also recorded a 3.1% decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
The lowest price for an average apartment can be found in Beer Sheva: NIS 1.167 million, followed by Haifa with NIS 1.55 million.
Changed apartment prices by city.
Tax data processed by Ari Magorim Group for Real Estate Marketing / Ari Magorim Group for Real Estate Marketing
Ohad Asraf points out that in recent weeks there has been a reversal of trend in the real estate market. According to him, "If until the war and in the first weeks after October 7 there was an expectation of a price drop in the housing market as a result of the increase in interest rates and the decrease in transactions, then since November there is an expectation in the market of an increase in prices as a result of a number Factors, among them: the expected decrease in inventory due to the lack of workers and the expected decrease in construction starts, the expected increase in inflation in Israel as a result of the increase in cases of anti-Semitism worldwide, and in light of past experience, an expected increase in prices after the war."
"The first to return to the sales sites were the investors, some in organized groups who received good terms from the entrepreneurs Expressed in special benefits and financing operations that moderate the effect of high interest rates.
After that came young couples and housing improvers who bought apartments mainly in presale promotions and indeed in the month of December we saw that 2,729 new apartments were sold, an increase of about 79.5% compared to the month of November when only 1,520 new apartments were sold.
The trend also continued in January and was accelerated following the lowering of the interest rate by the Bank of Israel, with the market estimating that the lowering of interest rates will continue in the coming months as well."
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