400 price-per-tenant apartments were sold without a lottery, and there are hundreds more for sale throughout the country

• Last chance for a subsidized apartment?

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Produced by the Department of Special Supplements

Do housing developers understand that this is a last chance for a subsidized apartment at the expense of the state? Nearly 400 price-per-tenant apartments have been sold without a lottery in recent months, after failing to sell to those eligible. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of young couples seeking to sell their apartment because they are having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments. 

The inspection by the Office of Real Estate Appraisers, headed by Haim Mesilati, shows that currently 1,132 apartments for eligible residents are offered for sale on the price per occupant website, compared to 1,404 apartments offered there as of last May. It turns out that despite the corona crisis, a respectable amount of transactions were still recorded.

The cities with the largest stock of apartments are Acre, Kiryat Bialik, Dimona, Yeruham and Kiryat Motzkin. There are apartments for sale in the center of the country and the Sharon - Or Yehuda, Netanya, Modi'in and Rosh HaAyin. In recent months, 110 apartments in Acre, 81 apartments in Kiryat Bialik, 73 apartments in Nahariya, 20 apartments in Carmiel, 18 apartments in Netanya and more have been sold. On the other hand, several dozen apartments in different cities were added to the inventory.

These are apartments that young people and housing developers who meet the eligibility conditions of a price-per-tenant program can purchase immediately without a lottery. The contractors have not been able to market these apartments to eligible people, sometimes because they are large apartments or special apartments, whose price is higher. This may actually be an opportunity for housing improvers. Some of the apartments are already in advanced stages of construction, and the prices are definitely tempting.

"It seems that the corona crisis has sent young people to buy apartments in peripheral cities," said Haim Mesilati. "There the prices of land and apartments are lower and possible even in a period of economic uncertainty like the one we are in today. The apartments in these cities are large and spacious with large balconies, and can significantly improve the quality of life of young families."

Looking back at a price-per-tenant program, which operated in the real estate market from December 2015 to early July 2020, Mesilati said: “The program was economical only for those eligible who had the equity required to purchase the apartment they won. In many lotteries the eligible won apartments that even after the subsidy from the state their price was too high for them, and here the purpose of the program was somewhat missed.

"On the other hand, as we see, there is a stock of apartments left across the country, which are being sold without a lottery, and these apartments are a real estate opportunity that is a shame to miss - hence the onslaught of buyers in recent months. I expect this trend to continue. "

There are apartments on the shelf

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction and Housing announced yesterday that more than 17,000 households in Israel have registered for 28 raffle continuations of price per occupant for 790 housing units in 13 localities throughout the country: Or Yehuda, Ashkelon, Beit Shemesh, Gedera, Yavne, Mitzpe Ramon, Nahariya, Netivot, Netanya, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Motzkin. These are projects for which a lottery has already taken place and there are still apartments without winners.

The most sought-after localities in the lotteries were Yavne - 5,793 registrants, Or Yehuda - 5,276 registrants, Beit Shemesh - 4,220 registrants. The Ministry of Construction and Housing noted that in continued lotteries it is possible to register for an unlimited number of lotteries and in practice there were more than 76,600 registrations. Of all the enrollees, about 1,500 were housing improvers and the rest were eligible for series A, B, and C. The lottery results will be announced at the end of this month.

The ministry said that in all the years of the program, about 78,000 households in discounted apartments in 86 localities across the country won. Of these, about 57,000 apartments received a building permit and 21,000 apartments are still awaiting a permit. To date, about 9,500 housing units have been inhabited. About 1,700 apartments have received Form 4 or are in the application process. More than 36,000 winners have signed a contract.

Produced by the Department of Special Supplements