Waking up to necessity

"Not long ago I was approached by a couple interested in purchasing a ground-floor duplex in a nice, two-story building on a hillside in Jerusalem's Pisgat Zeev suburb," recalls building engineer Yigal Bergman. "I did a preliminary inspection of the building and found various cosmetic cover-ups that hid the settling of the structure and cracks. A closer look revealed that the whole building suffered from the sinking of a corner foundation post, and was listing to one side. Repairing such damage is almost impossible, and the couple purchased an alternative property."

Harel, Gamla Millennium setting up $100m real estate fund

Harel Insurance Investments Ltd. (TASE: HARL) and Gamla Millennium Investments Ltd. are setting up a $100 million venture to invest in residential real estate projects. The venture will be called Gamla-Harel Residential Real Estate. It will provide loans or guarantees to complete equity for residential real estate projects, and will enter into partnerships to buy or build such projects.
Harel Insurance chairman Yair Hamburger said, “Harel believes that its financial know-how and wherewithal combined with Gamla Millennium’s professional experience in real estate will cause developers to ask Gamla-Harel to invest in their residential real estate projects.”

Property market ripe for local buyers

The continued weakness of the US currency coupled with low interest rate has raised the buying power of Israelis across the country who previously were unable to afford the purchase of an apartment.
"Israelis are waking up to the possibility of smaller mortgages and a weak US currency, opening a window of opportunity for them to get out of their rental situation and being able to qualify for a mortgage to buy an apartment," said Alyssa Friedland, co-owner of RE/MAX Vision and RE/MAX Capital in Jerusalem. "Following the end of the season of foreign buyers, there is high demand from young Israeli couples and families, who are looking into the market for three to four bedroom apartments."

Hanan Mor buys Elite Junction residential lot for NIS 75m

The Hanan Mor Group has signed an MOU with Friedman Khakshouri Engineering & Building Ltd. and EMD Real Estate Development and Investment Ltd to buy a 12-dunam (three-acre) lot at the Elite Junction in Ramat Gan for NIS 75 million. The lot is zoned for 518 apartments.
One lot is zoned for a high-rise with 53 apartments and has vacate-and-build rights for an additional 372 apartments. The EMD lot is zoned for 93 apartments. Sales proceeds from the apartments are estimated at NIS 700 million, on which the Hanan Group expects to earn NIS 220 million.

Property boom to moderate in 2007

"Despite the Lebanon war, the number of property deals in 2006 increased by 21 percent compared with 2005, on the back of a weak US currency which opened up buying opportunities for locals, and the rising trend of Jewish buyers from France, the US, the UK and Belgium," said Bernard Raskin, regional owner of Remax Israel, referring to a survey of Remax's activity across the country. "We expect that in 2007 prices will continue to rise similar to this year driven by high demand, which is not met proportionally by growing supply."

REIT 1 to buy 50% of Amdocs compound

REIT 1 Ltd. (TASE:RIT1) has signed an MOU to buy half of the Amdocs compound in Ra’anana, from the group of developers who built it, for $83 million. REIT 1 will finance the purchase from shareholders’ equity and with a loan to be taken just before the sale is closed. The net rent from the property totals $6.9 million a year.

The prices are also sky-high

This forecast is based on reality, says the realtor Bentzi Desha of Re/Max Unique in Yehud. Half-dunam plots in Kfar Truman and Nehalim sell for $200,000, while a private home with a plot of 220 square meters at Moshav Rinatiya went for half a million dollars recently. The prices of moshavim that are closer to the airport and suffer more from the noise, are influenced significantly, Deshe says, but it is precisely these low prices that make more people interested in the area.

Only 885 new apartments sold in September

New privately built housing sales totaled only 885 in September 2006, of which 790 were under construction and 95 were completed, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. Sales of privately built homes fell 13% in June-September, compared with February-May.
The second Lebanon war between July 12 and August 14 affected housing sales. Half of the homes sold in September were sold within seven months of the start of construction.

Marketing of new Jerusalem high-tech park begins

The park is intended for biotechnology, physics and high-tech start-ups Ambassador will offer 100-sq.m. locations at $6 per sq.m. per month in shell condition.
The property, occupied by 44 buildings of 255-sq.m. each, was previously used as student dormitories. Some companies already rent space in the area, including Van Leer Ventures Jerusalem Ltd., Free Mind International (2003) Ltd., and Sygnet Technologies International 2001 Ltd.

Africa-Israel buys Migdal’s half of Anglo-Saxon

Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) is buying out its partner in Anglo-Saxon Real Estate (Israel 1992) Ltd., Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL), for NIS 7.5 million. For the past 14 years, Africa-Israel has owned 51% of the agency and Migdal 49%.