Tel Aviv is the most in-demand district in Israel for buying housing for investment, even though it is the most expensive in the country and had the highest purchase tax in 2019, according to the Israel Tax Authority report on real estate taxes collected. The report also cites a sharp fall in tax collection during the Covid-19 lockdown in March and April.
Clearly many investors are not looking for cheap apartments. In 2019, 2,600 apartments in Tel Aviv were bought by investors, the highest number in the country. The median price of an apartment in Tel Aviv is NIS 2.35 million and the average purchase tax paid on a Tel Aviv apartment was NIS 251,000.
In second place in 2019 was Haifa District where 2,372 apartments for investment were purchased. In Haifa the median price of an apartment is a much more modest NIS 775,000. Close behind was the Central District where 2,285 apartments for investment were purchased in 2019 with the median price being NIS 1.735 million (the region encompasses Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Rishon Lezion and Modi'in). Next came the Negev with 1,800 apartments bought for investment with a median price of NIS 800,000. 1,500 apartments for investment were bought in the South Sharon region (Netanya, Ra'anana, Herzliya) where the median price was NIS 1.83 million.
In the first half of 2020 the number of real estate deals fell but by August, the Tax Authority, notes there was a rise in real estate purchase tax collection. According to the Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance there was a significant rise in the purchase of apartments for investment, although this was not necessarily due to the cut in purchase tax.
Despite the rise in real estate deals after the lifting of lockdown in the late spring, the Tax Authority reports that real estate purchase tax revenues fell in every month between April and September 2020, compared with the corresponding months of last year, except in August when there was a rise in revenues.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 3, 2020
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020