Israel Real Estate News

First Israeli Real Estate Trade Fair Held in Moscow

2009-11-04T15:49:00.000+02:00

Among the guests joining Chabad of Moscow’s Israeli community for Shabbat services and dinner last Friday night, were a group of Israeli realtors, bankers and lawyers who had come to participate in the city’s first real estate fair.

Representatives from over a dozen top Israeli realty developers, Israel Discount Bank and a leading Israeli law firm participated in last week’s two day fair.

Market report / Real estate shares lead TASE retreat

2009-09-17T00:44:00.000+03:00

Tel Aviv stocks fell yesterday as real estate stocks retreated. The Real Estate-15 index lost a steep 5.4%, although all the leading indexes finished the day in the red.

The benchmark TA-25 index lost 1.4% to end at 940 points, and the broader TA-100 index lost 1.7% to 872 points. Trading turnover increased to NIS 1.6 billion, after dwindling to a mere billion shekels on Sunday

Tel Aviv real estate

2009-09-15T02:01:00.001+03:00

Discount extends fresh loans to Delek Real Estate

2009-09-06T08:06:00.000+03:00

Delek Real Estate is showing signs of recovery, and Israel Discount Bank has been enlisted to help them survive by extending loans totaling several hundred million shekels.

Discount is thus joining parent company Delek Group and the Phoenix insurance group, both of which belong to Yitzhak Tshuva, in lending Delek Real Estate money to cover its billions of shekels in debts to bondholders, banks and other creditors.

In June Delek Real Estate reached a five-year debt arrangement (covering both new and old loans) with Discount. The bank, headed by CEO Giora Offer, agreed to allow Delek Real Estate to pay only interest during the first two years, and to start paying off the principal in the third year.

Israeli recession is over, prospects are good

2009-08-29T11:28:00.001+03:00

Israel has high levels of economic, institutional and financial strength, and the country's recession now appears to be over, Moody's Investor Services said yesterday in its annual report on Israel.

The international rating agency left Israel's long-term government foreign currency bond rating at A1 with a stable outlook.

Moody's said Israel's economy has largely weathered the global meltdown, but warned the country's small size means robust growth hinges on developments abroad. It added short-term prospects were relatively good.

Israel's Real Estate Market Remains Hot

2009-08-17T01:28:00.001+03:00

Unlike nearly anywhere else in the world right now, Israel's real estate market is thriving. Home sales in Israel jumped 57% in June of this year, compared to the same month in 2008. June 2009 saw 1,540 homes sold nationwide, compared to just 980 a year earlier.

The Jerusalem area, where 30% of all apartments sold were located, has become one of the country's hottest areas. Overall, 92% more apartments were sold in the Yerushalayim area during the first half of 2009, compared to the same period a year earlier.

Real estate stocks fuel powerful rally in Tel Aviv

2009-08-06T01:44:00.000+03:00

Tel Aviv stocks opened the trading week with a bang, powering north on unusually high turnover for a Sunday. To inject a moment of sobriety, the leading Tel Aviv indices had fallen so far last year that the gains in 2009 haven't fully compensated for the losses.

The TA-25 index is still 22% below its all-time high, for example. The Real Estate-15 index, which has gained 130% this year, is still 65% below its peak.

Yesterday the TA-25 index gained 1.9% to 968 points and the broader TA-100 index advanced by 2.1% to close at 904 points. The Real Estate-15 index gained 4.5%

June sees 57% spike in realty sales

2009-07-30T12:02:00.000+03:00

The real estate market experienced a positive trend in June, as realty sales showed a 57% rise in sales, compared with June of 2008.

Some 1,540 new apartments were sold in June, all in privately-held construction projects, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

CBS data indicated that 44% of all new apartments sold during the first half of 2009 were in central Israel, and 23% in the greater Tel Aviv area.

'Israel is on the right track'

2009-07-28T23:53:00.000+03:00

Faced by increasing numbers of positive economic indicators, analysts are starting to agree that Israel's economy has bottomed out.

"We're on the right track. We may have even passed the turning point," said Ayelet Nir, chief economist of Tel Aviv brokerage IBI, yesterday.

A year ago a statement like that would have evoked a bitter snort. Yet less than a year after Lehman Bros. collapsed with a roar heard around the world, macro analysts are smiling anew. Gil Bufman, chief economist of Bank Leumi,

Haifa real estate prices quintuple

2009-07-26T17:02:00.000+03:00

"Prices in Haifa are now sky-high. The lower city is attracting young, highly educated people. We're positioning the city as one of Israel's key university towns," says Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav.

Yona adds, "We're that now redeveloping the entire lower city into a university campus, prices have soared 500-600%. In a city with breathtaking vistas, green mountains, and spacious beaches, it is areas in the lower city near the sea where prices are lowest, a tenth of the price of a seafront apartment in central Israel. Although the Haifa real estate market is recovering, most people in central Israel only consider the city as a place to buy apartments for investment. Prices are a ridiculously low NIS 200,000-400,000 in the cheaper neighborhoods, and are definitely not purchased to meet the buyers' needs.

A THREE-BEDROOM DUPLEX IN A BAUHAUS BUILDING

2009-07-15T10:33:00.000+03:00

In recent years Tel Aviv’s real estate values have risen slowly and steadily. In 2003, the average price of an apartment was 896,100 shekels ($226,374); in 2008, it was 1,205,400 shekels ($304,509), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, a government agency.

The economic downturn has slowed the market. By the middle of 2008, “the market froze,” Yoram Indik, a Tel Aviv-based real-estate broker, said. “People didn’t want to sell, buyers didn’t want to buy.”

But even though the pace of sales has slowed, housing prices are generally still on the rise. For the first quarter of 2009, the average price of an apartment was 1,283,000 shekels ($324,113) according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Sharp drop in number of Israeli millionaires

2009-06-29T22:33:00.000+03:00

The report also reveals that while the number of people with more than $1 million in net assets fell 14.9%, the number of millionaires in Israel dropped by an almost double rate of 28%.

A millionaire is defined as a person people with net assets of more than $1 million excluding their main home and everyday possessions. The report ranks an ultra-rich as a person with at a fortune of more than $30 million.

According to Merrill Lynch, the number of ultra-rich in Israel dropped from 97 to 73 in the past year – down 24.6%.

Israeli company in talks to take a £100m stake in British Land's

2009-06-20T16:58:00.000+03:00

A company owned by one of Israel's richest men disclosed yesterday that it is in talks to buy a stake in the City of London's famous Broadgate office complex from British Land.

Property and Building, which is controlled by Nochi Dankner, the billionaire, said in a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange that it was in the initial stages of buying a stake in Broadgate for £100 million. Harel, Israel's third-biggest insurance company, said separately that it was looking at investing about £45 million.

TheMarker U.S.-Israel business summit, June 24-25, NYC

2009-06-17T14:10:00.000+03:00

Last year's Summit was held at another well-known New York landmark - the Plaza Hotel, overlooking Central Park. Guests included then opposition leader and current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sanford Weill, Prof. Nouriel Roubini and Donald Trump.

Israeli CEOs earned more as profits shrank

2009-06-16T16:38:00.000+03:00

While investors have had to come to terms with the decimation of profits at some of Tel Aviv's biggest companies, that can't be said of the top managers.

In 2008 the combined profit of the companies listed on the TA-25 index, which tracks the biggest 25 listed companies by market capitalization, dropped by 40% from the year before. That's sobering stuff.

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Yet the average salaries of these companies' CEOs rose by about 30%, to NIS 7.9 million in 2008 (in terms of wage cost), according to a study by the remuneration department at PricewaterhouseCoopers Kesselman & Kesselman.

Fishman: The price of apartments in Israel is about to rise by 10%.

2009-06-14T19:56:00.000+03:00

Real estate developers Eliezer Fishman and Chaim Katzman, who both have investments around the world, in virtually every sector, were the first guests in "Globes" real estate forum. Eliezer Fishman is the controlling shareholder in “Globes”.

Is it not worthwhile investing at home now that the entire world is so stormy?

Fishman: There aren't any opportunities here. In the last recession in Israel (2001-2003) I had 400,000 square meters empty. In this recession I don't have 100,000 square meters empty.

Katzman: We don't sees any changes and if anything there is a strengthening. We are now seeing the shopping mall in Kfar Saba being occupied very successfully.

Fishman: The price of apartments in Israel is about to rise by 10%.. Nobody will build for a 4% margin. So either construction will stop altogether or the price will rise 14%. An apartment that you find today for NIS 1 million will be worth NIS 100,000 more, not in two years time, but in another five months

President of Israel's Gazit-Globe resigns

2009-06-12T00:43:00.001+03:00

TEL AVIV, June 10 (Reuters) - Israeli real estate investment company Gazit-Globe Ltd (GLOB.TA) said on Wednesday its president, Michael Bar Haim, was stepping down.

He has held the position since January 2008.

Bar Haim will remain president for a period to be agreed upon with the company, Gazit-Globe said in a statement, adding that the board will announce a temporary replacement in the coming days.

The company did not provide further details.

Gazit-Globe operates in the United States through Equity One Inc (EQY.N), in which it owns 40 percent, and in Canada through 54 percent-owned First Capital Reality Inc (FCR.TO). It is also the largest shareholder in Finland's Citycon (CTY1S.HE) and last year it took over Atrium European Real Estate (ATRV.VI).

Real estate market collapses

2009-05-22T16:49:00.002+03:00

According to the survey, 2008 saw 91,500 apartment purchases, down 6% compared to 2007, and new apartment acquisitions were down 14% in 2008. Only 19,000 new apartments were purchased last year, or 21% of the entire market.

The average figures for 2008 seem reasonable, but focusing on the market performance of the last quarter of the year when the major real estate crisis in the U.S. began to unfold reveals that nearly all parameters point to a real collapse. That quarter saw just 15,100 transactions, down 43% compared to the fourth quarter of the year before, and the lowest quarterly figures since the economic recession of 2002.

Real estate experts: An overview of the Israeli market

2009-05-17T15:08:00.000+03:00

Israel Property founders Jonny Baker and Jonny Gaon - two native English-speakers - established their business with the simple concept of making the process of purchasing real estate in Israel easier for the overseas buyer. As more foreign residents and non-Hebrew speakers purchase and rent property in Israel, the practical issues involved in finding the right property can be daunting. Israel Property facilitates the often frustrating and time-consuming process of dealing with multiple agents in a foreign country and provides guidance from A to Z.

Land reform? Tread carefully

2009-05-11T01:41:00.000+03:00

Almost all of the land in Israel - 93 percent - is either the property of the state, the Jewish National Fund, or the 1950s-era Development Authority for abandoned Arab property. Whatever the case, the Israel Land Administration (ILA) is the government agency responsible for managing all land in the public domain. Ownership of real estate in Israel typically means leasing rights from the ILA for 49 or 98 years.

One of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's campaign promises was to reform the ILA in order to bring down exorbitant real-estate prices and reduce housing costs. Besides making homes more affordable, reform seeks to spur a building boom, creating jobs and generating economic growth.

The premier has long advocated "slaying the ILA dragon," simplifying procedures and attracting overseas investors. The idea is to break up the ILA monopoly, transfer leased lands to private ownership, decentralize and give more say to local planning commissions. This intended outcome would mean more efficient land management and a citizenry better served.

Israeli gender equality ranked 53 of 115

2009-05-06T13:56:00.001+03:00

The index used data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Gender, Institutions and Development database.

The study, which included five components measuring women's access to credit, real and non-real estate property, inheritances and social rights, found that women in Israel do not benefit from equal rights.

Regarding inheritances and social rights, Israeli women scored relatively high marks, but the overall ranking was lowered by the results for the other three components.

Diaspora Jews' Israel real estate purchases plummeted in 2008

2009-05-05T16:39:00.000+03:00

The global economic crisis has badly hurt property sales to foreign residents. State Revenues Authority data shows that in the fourth quarter of 2008, there was a 40% decline in the number of sales compared to the third quarter - and a 60% decline in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2007.

Much has been written and said about the "invasion" of Diaspora Jews in Israel, but so far few official figures have been released concerning the exact number of real-estate deals they struck or the prices they paid. Apartment purchases by foreign residents accounted for 5% of the overall sales in the country, but have been concentrated in a few specific areas, so their impact has been significant.

Real estate co Azorim sees positive home sales trend

2009-04-30T11:06:00.000+03:00

Azorim Investment, Development and Construction Ltd. (TASE: AZRM), controlled by chairman Shaya Boymelgreen, has laid off 15 employees at company headquarters. Azorim CEO Mati Dov told "Globes" today that the company had no plans to sell properties in Israel at this time as part of its streamlining measures.

Including previous layoffs, Azorim has now let go 25 employees, a quarter of its workforce. The company has laid off headquarters, project management, marketing, and bookkeeping staff. The savings from the layoffs will only be reflected in Azorim's results for 2010. Together with other streamlining measures, the company hopes to save NIS 25 million in administrative costs next year compared with last year.

US realty guru: Israel a prime real estate destination

2009-04-23T20:26:00.000+03:00

Considered an industry guru, Buffini owns the biggest real estate and business coaching and training company in the US. He arrived in Israel recently to lecture to local real estate agents.

The business of real estate, he told his listeners, can thrive even in these troubled times. Buffini's teachings advocate using networking and existing business contact, rather than costly advertising, to drum up business.

Realtors, he said, must take the time and invest in creating personal relationships: Every person, on average, knows about 285 people, so if you invest in cultivating 100 relationships, you can increase you potential cliental by 28,500 people.

Africa Israel to sell Tel Aviv property

2009-04-22T13:49:00.000+03:00

TEL AVIV, April 22 (Reuters) - Africa Israel Properties (AFPR.TA), a subsidiary of real estate developer Africa Israel Investments (AFIL01.TA), said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell a Tel Aviv property for 166.5 million shekels ($39.5 million).

The company said it will sell 95 percent of the Africa Israel Tower in central Tel Aviv and 50 percent of the unused building rights in the property to an entity controlled by foreign investors.

Upon completion of the deal Africa Israel will record a pretax capital gain of 17 million shekels.

The buyer has two-year options to buy the remaining 5 percent in Africa Israel Tower for 7.7 million shekels and the remaining 50 percent of the unused building rights for 20 million shekels.