Israel luxury housing prices skyrocket

Prices of luxury and super-luxury housing in Israel have not stopped climbing, rising dozens of percent over the last year, according to the "million price list" put out by the Neot Shiran company, which surveys luxury property prices. The bottom line is that luxury properties have never cost more. "The big increases in luxury real estate prices are isolated from what is happening in the regular real estate market," said Noam Dzaldov, one of the owners of Neot Shiran. "Whoever buys real estate in the luxury market does not need the help of a mortgage bank. Mostly they are people with large assets, or foreign investors, with the money needed to pay such prices. Therefore, developments such as a drop in the stock market, or changes in the shekel-dollar exchange rate, have less effect on their decisions."