Braking in the housing market?
According to the new report of the chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, in April this year about 9,000 apartments were purchased, a decrease of 17% compared to April last year and a decrease of 28% compared to last March. The first significant decrease in the number of transactions since the first months of the Corona, after a slowdown in the number of transactions in the first quarter of the year as well.
According to the report, investors' purchases in April amounted to only 1.4 thousand apartments, a sharp decrease of 28% compared to April last year and a similar rate of decrease compared to the previous month.
The review also shows that the only area in which investor acquisitions were stable in April was the central region, which exceptionally led investors' acquisitions this month.
An analysis of the employment and wage characteristics of these buyers at the center indicates a high proportion of employed persons in the high-tech industry (27%), with exceptional wage levels.
The average wage per household of those who purchased an apartment for investment in the central area in April was NIS 64,000, gross per month.
At the same time, the Treasury notes that there is considerable variation in wage levels between buyers, with the average wage reaching an exceptional level of close to NIS 200,000 (per month), while in the lower quintile of buyers this wage is only NIS 8.2 thousand gross per month.
The explanation for these gaps lies, among other things, in the fact that half of the top quintile of buyers are employed in the high-tech industry, with some exercising options - the capital gain generated is included in the calculation of wages.
Investor sales in April totaled 1.9 thousand apartments, a decrease of 11% compared to April last year, a moderate decrease of five percentage points from that recorded in the total sale of second-hand apartments.
Investors' inventory of apartments continued to shrink, with 480 apartments deducted from it during the month, following declines in this inventory since last December.
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