9 October 12 13:51–”In a discussion on the housing market, committee members expressed concern about the decline in the rate of properties marketed by the Israel Land Administration and the possible effect of this decline on home prices. Despite the fact that in the past 12 months home prices have essentially been stable, the concern was raised that a decline in supply of properties, in parallel with renewed demand seen in the growing number of transactions and new mortgages, will lead to renewed price increases,” states the Bank of Israel in the minutes of the Monetary Committee meeting, which decided to keep the interest rate for October unchanged at 2.25%. The Bank of Israel published the minutes today.

The Bank of Israel says, “Home prices, as measured over the past 12 months, remained stable this month as well. However, the change in home prices in the past month, the number of home purchase transactions, and new mortgages granted are a cause for concern over the possibility of renewed increases in home prices.”

The Bank of Israel added that the Monetary Committee’s participants noted the downward revisions of global growth forecasts which serve as a background to the pessimistic expectations. They also noted the centrality of the construction industry and of exports as potential sources of growth. They agreed that the current effective exchange rate provides a comfortable environment for continued export activity, but further slowdown in global activity is liable to make export development difficult…Read More>>

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