Housing starts in Israel hit 10-year low

There were 12,100 building starts for new housing in the first quarter of 2021, down 20% on the corresponding quarter of 2020, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. This is the lowest first quarter figure since 2012, and the numbers have been consistently falling since 2016 when there were building starts on 56,600 new homes, falling to 52,800 in 2020.

Ashkelon continues to lead the country in terms of the most building starts for new homes. Between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 3,416 building starts in Ashkelon, up 151.5% from the previous 12 months, and 3,368 building starts in Tel Aviv, down 12%. There were 2,391 building starts in Ramat Gan, up 24.8%, 1,940 building starts in Rishon Lezion, up 5.3%, 1,684 building starts in Jerusalem, down 46.4%, 1,657 building starts in Netanya, down 22.1%, 1,540 building starts in Holon, up 170.7%, 1,463 building starts in Ramle, up 334.1%, 1,444 building starts in Nahariya, up 107.2%, and 1,249 building starts in Beit Shemesh, down 25.7%.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 17, 2021