Israelis are willing to much more for an apartment than previously, according to the semiannual "Globes" Real Estate Survey for December 2009. The survey focuses on the public's intention to buy an apartment in the next three months. The current survey was held a year after the global financial crisis peaked and after months of sharp rises in the domestic housing market, which lead some analysts to talk of a housing bubble.
The December survey found that average maximum price that apartment seekers are willing to pay rose by 24% to NIS 1.01 million from NIS 810,000 in December 2008. The average maximum price in December was 3% higher than the NIS 980,000 in the July 2009 survey.
The average maximum price that apartment seekers were willing to pay in December 2008 was still less than peak price reached in July 2007.
Azimuth Advertising CEO Benny Keret said, "The sharp rise in the average maximum price that apartment seekers are willing to pay for a new apartment, alongside the stability in the number of apartment seekers compared with the two previous surveys, demonstrates more than anything else that the public has realized that apartment prices rose substantially during 2009."
The number of apartment seekers has been stable: In response to the survey's basic question, "Are you looking to buy an apartment now or within the next three months", 19% of respondents in December answered yes, compared with 18% in the July 2009 and December 2008 surveys.
The stability in the number of apartment seekers and their willingness to pay more demonstrates that there are still homebuyers in the market and that they realize that they have to raise their sights.
The survey also found that demand for second-hand apartments rose during 2009, while demand for new apartments fell. 83% of respondents said that they were looking also at, or only at, second-hand apartments, compared with 77% of respondents in December 2008. 46% of respondents said that they were looking also at, or only at, new apartments, compared with 52% of respondents a year earlier.
31.5% of apartment seekers live in the Dan region (metropolitan Tel Aviv), 26.5% live in Jerusalem or its environs, 15% each live in the Sharon and in the north, and 12% live in the south. This breakdown reflects Israel's population distribution.
The survey of 500 respondents is conducted by Mutagim Research Ltd. and Bauman-Ber-Rivnay Saatchi and Saatchi unit Azimuth Advertising. The respondents are a representative sample of Israel's adult Jewish population.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 4, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010