Home Purchases Down 12 Percent

The Israeli housing market sagged miserably in the second quarter of 2017, according to figures published by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

Only 24,000 homes were purchased during the period, 15 percent less than in the corresponding period last year and 12 percent fewer than in the first quarter of this year.

The ministry said that excluding sales in the buyer fixed price framework, sales reached their lowest point since the waiting period for the 0 percent VAT plan proposed by former Minister of Finance Yair Lapid.

“In the Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv regions, sales are nearing an all-time low,” the report stated.

The review further shows that investors acquired a paltry 4,000 housing units in the second quarter, one of the lowest figures since at least the year 2000. The proportion of deals by investors hit a low of 17 percent.

Taxation revenue suffered correspondingly. Taxes on housing purchases for investment, came to only NIS 450 million, 37 percent less than in the corresponding quarter in 2016. This is also one of the lowest figures in recent years, despite the tax hike.