Despite the war: apartment prices continue to soar in most regions of the country, completing an average increase of 1% in just two months, as of February 2024. This is according to the Consumer Price Index published last night (Monday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics. This increase in housing prices also affects inflation, which continues to soar, when the consumer price index rose in March by 0.6%, a figure that shows an annual increase of 2.7%, compared to March 2023.
Comparing the prices of transactions carried out in the months of January 2024 - February 2024 compared to the prices of transactions carried out in December 2023 - January 2024, it was found that apartment prices increased by 1%.
Segmented by districts, during this time period price increases were recorded in most districts, with the largest increase recorded being in the Tel Aviv district (2.1%); followed by Haifa (1.3%); Jerusalem (0.7%); center (0.5%); and South (0.4%).
However, despite the sweeping increase in most areas, the only district in Israel where a decrease was actually recorded was the North District, with a decrease of 0.2% on average. Furthermore, according to the index, the prices of new apartments remained unchanged in comparison between the aforementioned periods.
Annual comparison:
The analysis of the prices of the transactions carried out in the months of January 2024 - February 2024 compared to the prices of the transactions carried out in the months of January 2023 - February 2023 shows an average annual increase of 0.3% in apartment prices.
When segmented by districts, price increases were found in the following districts: Haifa (4.4%), South (3.6%), Jerusalem (2.1%) and North (0.9%). On the other hand, price decreases were found in the following districts: Tel Aviv (1.8%) and Central (0.5%).
Matan Mizrahi, manager of the Jerusalem region at Elder Mortgage Company, explains that "the increase was largely due to issues such as: the wage gap due to the lack of workers, the increase in oil prices, the depreciation of the shekel, and changes in taxation on popular products such as the increase in the tax on cigarettes. The forecast for interest rate fluctuations and the advance of the tax increase "M, affects the expectation of inflation, which leads to dealing with dense economic challenges.
The main index that affects the prices is the rental prices and the hints of continued recovery in the apartment market seem clear. Bank of Israel figures indicate a significant increase in mortgage volumes, which currently stand at NIS 6.23 billion, which also indicates a return to reasonable activity in real estate transactions. It seems that forecasts for higher inflation contributed to the Bank of Israel's decision to leave interest rates unchanged last week. The increase in housing prices In 1%, she is only the swallow for the continuation."