The value of mortgages taken in July 2021 in Israel was NIS 11.5 billion, slightly below the all-time record monthly high of NIS 11.6 billion taken in June 2021, the Bank of Israel reports.
The total value of mortgages taken in Israel since the start of 2021 amounts to $63.2 billion, an average of more than NIS 9 billion per month. A total of more than NIS 100 billion in mortgages are expected to be taken in 2021, up from NIS 78 billion last year, which was a record year.
Minister of Finance Avigdor Liberman recently commented at a Globes conference about the risks of the high amount of mortgages being taken and warned that homeowners would not be able to pay back the loans if interest rates were to rise. He called on the banks to behave responsibly.
The record mortgage taking has fueled continuing price rises in Israel's real estate market. Prices are rising at an average of 5.6% annually, while on the supply side investment in new residential construction fell 6.6% in 2020.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 10, 2021
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