According to new Ministry of Housing second quarter figures, the number of months an average Israeli wage-earner will have to work in order to earn enough to buy a new apartment is still rising. An average employee now must save 157 monthly paychecks in order to buy a new four-room apartment and 191 monthly paychecks in order to buy a new five-room apartment, compared with "only" 150 monthly paychecks for a four-room apartment and 183 for a five-room apartment in the first quarter. These figures are now at their highest level since 2008.
The rise in the number of monthly paychecks is a result of a 2.5% increase in new apartment prices in the second quarter, compared with the preceding quarter, and a 13% jump, compared with the corresponding quarter last year.
Not all the news is bad, however. The average number of monthly paychecks needed to purchase a secondhand apartment fell from 91 in the first quarter to 89 in the second quarter for a three-room apartment, from 133 in the first quarter to 132 in the second quarter, and from 187 in the first quarter to 184 in the second quarter. These figures are still very high, however; in 2008, for example, only 67 monthly paychecks were needed to buy a secondhand three-room apartment, 97 monthly paychecks to buy a secondhand four-room apartment, and 145 monthly paychecks to buy a secondhand five-room apartment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 7, 2014
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