Haaretz: Israeli housing sales peak in May
Jul.08, 2012 | 1:22 AM–The pace of real estate sales jumped sharply in May, a Finance Ministry survey released Thursday shows. The May figures represented a 48% increase over April’s sales, and a 17% increase compared to sales in May, 2011.
The more brisk level of sales activity was in large part the result of the more than 50% rise in the number of second-hand homes sold in May of this year compared to the same month in 2011.
The price of new homes declined slightly in May, by 0.6% compared to April, with the largest price declines occurring in the Jerusalem area, aided by price decreases (and sales increases ) in one particular project just outside Jerusalem. In the central region, which excludes Tel Aviv itself, new housing prices rose on average by 0.4%, while in the Sharon region, prices dropped by 0.5%.
About 9,400 housing units, new and previously-owned, were sold this May, the largest single monthly total since March 2011. Preliminary figures for June 2012 show a slower sales pace than May’s figures but still higher than June 2011. The number of home sales in May in the Tiberias area was 130% higher than the same month last year, due to a major increase in the purchase of homes in the region by young couples. Among other brisk markets were the Jerusalem area and the Shefelah lowlands region, with 20% increases…Read More>>
