Apartment sales data for March 2012 point to a further cooling of the real estate market. Sales of new apartments built in Ministry of Housing and Construction tenders (i.e. public housing) totaled 386 in March, 26% fewer than in March 2011, and 15% fewer than in February.
The Ministry of Housing publishes its public housing figures two weeks before the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes its monthly sales figures for privately built apartments, which account for most of the market. That said, the Ministry of Housing public housing figures tend to predict the private market trend.
Beersheva had the largest number of public housing sales in March, at 61 apartments. It was followed by Yavne (46 apartments), Ramle (29 apartments), and Ashdod (27 apartments).
First quarter publicly built apartment sales totaled 1,288, 16% fewer than in the corresponding quarter of 2011, but 46% more than in the preceding quarter.
4,002 publicly built apartments were sold in 2011, 17.5% fewer than the 4,853 apartments sold in 2010.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 19, 2012
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