"The real estate boom we've had is all because of our location," said Silberstein, who bought his home in Beit Zayit 12 years ago. "It was nothing intentional on our part. If people had some money, they bought here; now you actually have to be a little rich."
There are 400 homes along the town's tree-lined, flowering lanes and 1,800 residents, including about 100 families who have been here a long time and have significant properties like orchards, cultivated fields and, in at least one case, a horse ranch. There is also the Beit Zayit lake, a reservoir that has become Jerusalem Metropolitan Park, a public recreation area with paddle boats and walking trails.
Given the real estate changes in the neighborhood, "it's absurd to still call this a moshav," said Ovad Shalibo, another native-born son who owns Shalibo Realty, which handles many of the real estate deals in Beit Zayit and other similar moshav communities. Still, adds Shalibo, many of the "real money buyers" - Americans, French, Russians and British - only began buying in Beit Zayit recently, building mansion-like homes that they may or may not use as permanent residences. Prices are $5 million for about 5,500 square meters, or 59,000 square feet.
