Increase in the sale of new apartments throughout the country, with special emphasis on the Negev
Sale of new apartments on the free market
Photo:
Data: Chief Economist Division
Produced by the Department of Special Supplements
Unbelievable, but the corona probably does a good wipe.
The chief economist at the Ministry of Finance published the sales data this week, and Be'er Sheva is leading the growth percentage.
It's as if the corona virus has become a catalyst for anyone with some capital in their hands to find refuge between four walls.
Instead of a recession we got a rash.
A geographical segmentation found that the increase in free market contractor sales in February encompassed all regions, but the south was growing much more.
This ranges from an increase in the sale of apartments of 18% in the Tel Aviv area to an increase of 80% in the Beer Sheva area.
In February, 10.2 thousand apartments were purchased, an increase of 10% compared to February last year and a decrease of 3% compared to the previous month.
The Tel Aviv area, one of the most significant in the activity of the local real estate market, continues to stand out in its weakness, with a decrease of 11% in the number of transactions.
Comparing the level of free market transactions at the national level last February with its counterparts in the last 20 years, it was found that this is one of the highest levels recorded, when it is preceded only by the months of February in 2016 and 2015.
It should be noted that in the previous two months as well, there have been sharp growth rates in the sales of contractors in the free market in the Beer Sheva area.
Thus, the number of new apartments sold in February in the free market in the Beer Sheva area reached 420, the second highest in a national comparison (it is preceded only by the central area).
This is an unusual phenomenon in the local real estate market.
An analysis of the findings shows that the sharp increase in contractors' sales in Be'er Sheva was led by investors with 109 apartments, four times more than in February last year.
This is in line with sharp growth rates since the purchase tax on investors was reduced last July.
In total, between August 2020 and February 2021, investors in the Beer Sheva area purchased 600 new apartments, an increase of 175% compared to the same period last year.
The segmentation of investors by district of residence shows that most of them (56%) live in the Southern District and 30% in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts.
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It turns out that the purchase is mostly made on paper.
The analysis of contractors' sales in the free market according to the expected delivery date of the apartment (as declared by the contractor to the tax authority) shows that in February the rate of apartments sold with immediate delivery remained at a low level of only about 2%, similar to the previous four months.
The share of dwellings sold on paper reached 41%, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the previous month and an increase of 6 percentage points compared to February last year.
In this context, it should be noted that with the outbreak of the plague in March last year, the rate of new dwellings sold on paper in the free market fell to only a third, when it is likely that this decline was affected by the increase in uncertainty against the outbreak.
The condition of the contractors is not bad at all either.
The contractors' cash flow from the sale of new apartments (including government-subsidized apartments) in February amounted to NIS 6.6 billion, a real increase of 13% compared to February last year and a decrease of 3% compared to the previous month.
Only about 15% of the contractors' total cash flow in February resulted from sales at a price per occupant, compared with a rate of 30% in February last year.
This reflects the sharp decline in these subsidized sales.
Another interesting statistic is that the average salary of those who purchased an apartment for investment in February was NIS 44,000 gross per month per household.
Produced by the Department of Special Supplements