The number of building starts in the third quarter of 2014 was higher than in the preceding quarter, but less than in the corresponding quarter last year.
According to Central Bureau of Statistics figures published today, construction of 11,296 new housing units nationwide began in the third quarter of 2014, 16.7% more than in the preceding quarter, but 6.3% less than in the third quarter of 2013.
Building starts totaled 32,800 in the first nine months of the year, down 7.4%, compared with 35,470 building starts in the corresponding period last year.
These figures indicate that despite the waiting for the 0% VAT and target price programs, which in recent months has led many buyers to wait before going ahead with the purchase of a home, and therefore had a strong effect on building starts in the second quarter, contractors went back to building in the third quarter, despite their claims that projects had been suspended.
It cannot be ruled out that the loss of confidence on the part of both contractors and buyers that these programs will ever be implemented, as also reflected in a survey of new housing sales in recent months conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, has brought building starts back to their level before the government announced these programs.
At the same time, it is still evident that the volume of building starts at the annual level is low, and does not reflect the government's efforts to increase supply, whether through a roof agreements program or through other programs.
The Central Bureau of Statistics data for building starts also show steep declines in building starts in the first nine months of the year, compared with the corresponding period last year, in Rishon Lezion (50%), Rehovot (47%), Ashkelon (43%), Beer Sheva (38%), and Hod Hasharon (32.5%). Other cities with a decline in building starts include Petah Tikva, Hadera, and Herzliya.
At the same time, a few communities posted a noticeable rise in building starts in the first nine months of 2014. In Rosh HaAyin, for example, building starts skyrocketed 169.5%, thanks to a major land marketing campaign there last year. Building starts also shot up by 123% in Beer Yaakov and 104% in Ramat Gan.
Grouped by districts, the biggest rise in buildings starts in January-September 2014 was in the Jerusalem District, where they rose 20.9%. Building starts also rose 5% in the northern district and 9.4% in the Haifa district, while they plummeted 62.4% in Judea and Samaria, and were down 25.7% in the southern district and 9% in Tel Aviv and the central region.
In addition to building starts, the Central Bureau of Statistics also provides data about housing units being actively constructed. The figures show that the number of new housing units under construction nationwide in the third quarter totaled 95,800, about the same number as in the first two quarters of 2014, and noticeably higher than the action construction figures since late 1997.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 30, 2014
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