Israel's mortgage market cooled down in January, according to the latest figures released by the Bank of Israel. NIS 4.57 billion in new mortgages were taken in January, 17% down on mortgages taken in January 2014.
A closer look at the data shows that NIS 2.2 billion was taken in variable interest rate mortgages and NIS 2.3 billion in fixed rate mortgages, down 18% and 15% respectively.
December 2014 had been an exceptional month for mortgage taking, with NIS 5.5 billion in new mortgages taken, after the government's plan to charge 0% VAT on new homes for first time buyers was finally shelved. The demise of the plan released a flood of homebuyers who had been sitting on the fence, waiting for the plan to be implemented.
Despite the fall in mortgage taking in January, the monthly figure was still 5.4% higher than the average monthly figure for new mortgage taking in 2014.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 12, 2015
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