Sales of new homes totaled 28,500 in the first eleven months of 2019, more than the 23,000 sold in all of 2018 and the 24,500 sold in 2017, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The exceptional numbers are attributable to thousands of deals under the Buyer Fixed Price Plan in 2019, although supplementary figures released by the Ministry of Finance chief economist show that sales of new homes on the open market also increased.
2019 was an exceptionally strong year for sales of new homes, especially given the downtrend that began in the second half of 2015 and bottomed out in the first quarter of 2018, when monthly sales averaged 1,700. Sales of new homes have risen steeply since then, and have now reached a monthly average of 2,800, the highest level in at least the past six years.
The proportion of new housing deals accounted for by the Buyer Fixed Price Plan is now 50% or even higher. It is believed that the number of these new home deals in 2019 reached 15,000 by the end of December.
The leading cities in new home sales in September-November 2019 were Beer Yaakov, where 569 new homes were sold; Shoham (458), Ramat Gan (360), Jerusalem (352), and Tel Aviv and Herzliya (332 each). Sales of new apartments fell significantly in Beer Sheva, Harish, Nahariya, Or Yehuda, and Ashkelon, including by 20% in Ashkelon and by 60% in Harish.
The supply of new homes, defined as the number of new homes remaining for sale, reached 37,800 last November, compared with 38,000 at the end of last October.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 14, 2020
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