Israel's housing rental market is showing signs of warming up and even a moderate rise, according to a survey by "Globes" of websites offering apartments for rent.
The Yad2 website shows a major rise in demand over the past few weeks throughout the country. For example, between May 10 and May 16 there were 42,000 searches for apartments to rent on the Yad2 site compared with just 26,000 searches a month previously between April 12 and 18. There is a similar rise in searches in the other cities checked including Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beersheva and Eilat.
WeCheck, which is owned jointly by Yad2 and Isracard and which checks out potential renters for landlords says that there has been a rise in demand for apartments to rent as well as a reduction in supply to 'dimensions before the coronavirus.'
Itzik Levy CEO of Ambassador Real Estate, a national wide chain of real estate agents, believes that a combination of the end of the coronavirus crisis and seasonal developments are bringing about the rise in demand. "Usually in May, June and July there is the biggest demand for apartments, and that's related to the start of the school year in September when people move apartments. Most of the deals are done in this period including sales. In addition, back in March people were scared to show their apartments because of the coronavirus, so everything got postponed until May. I believe that in another month things will moderate."
A rise in prices
The absence of data about rental prices, in contrast to sales deals, makes a precise analysis difficult. However, a comparison of prices by Yad2 comparing rental prices between February and May 2019 with February and May 2020 shows signs of rising prices. Yad2 checked out how much it cost to rent three room apartments in various cities. In Tel Aviv, the average price being asked for in ads was NIS 6,145 last year compared with NIS 6,353 this year - a rise of 3.4%.
In Jerusalem the rise was 4.6%, with rental prices rising 4.8% in Eilat, and 3.2% in May 2020 compared with May 2019. Only in Beersheva was there a small fall of 0.7% in May 2020 compared with May 2019.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 24, 2020
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