With the exception of Ruth Parasol's purchase of a house in Herzliya Pituah for NIS 72.8 million, the biggest home purchases in 2012, did not approach the levels of 2010-11. Teddy Sagi's purchase of a house in Herzliya Pituah for $40 million (NIS 145 million) from Zaki Rakib in 2010 is still the most expensive residential deal in Israel.
One reason for this is the decline in real estate investment by foreign residents, due in part to the economic situation in Europe and the security situation in Israel.
Neot Shiran owners Meir Menahem and Noam Dzialdow, who specialize in the high-end market, say that prices in 2012 returned to realistic levels. "It's true that the market is still not seeing the robust activity of previous years, and there are still a lot of question markets which are affecting the market, such as the Israeli and US elections, the campaign in Gaza, and Iran. Nonetheless, in the past six months, we've again seen deals in the luxury residential market," says Dzialdow.
He adds that, despite the difficulty in making precise forecasts, asking prices for good properties now on the market, ranging from luxury high-rises to private houses in moshavim, are now realistic, compared with periods when homeowners were asking 20% more than the prices for similar deals in their area, and getting them.
The top ten real estate transactions in 2012 were:
- Ruth Parasol's purchase of a 1,000-square meter house on Kaplan Street in Herzliya Pituah for NIS 72.8 million.
- A 516-square meter apartment in the Frishman Tower in Tel Aviv for NIS 32.84 million.
- The 600-square meter house, divided into apartments, owned by the late Supreme Court President Moshe Landau, on an 800-square meter lot at 10 Alharizi Street, in Rehavia, Jerusalem, for NIS 28 million.
- Two houses on lots totaling 2,700 square meters at 39 and 41 Hadar Street, Caesarea, for NIS 27 million.
- Teddy Sagi's purchase of Minister of Defense Ehud Barak's 380-square meter apartment in the Akirov Towers on Pinkas Street in north Tel Aviv for NIS 26.5 million.
- A 220-square meter apartment in the Ocean Hotel in Herzliya for NIS 22.5 million.
- A 295-square meter apartment in the Ramat Yam project in Herzliya for NIS 19.6 million.
- Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX; TASE:MLNX) CEO Eyal Waldman's purchase of a 395-square meter apartment in the Meier on Rothschild Tower in Tel Aviv for NIS 19 million.
- Four apartments, totaling 1,700 square meters, in the Waldorf Hotel at 30 Gershon Agron Street in Jerusalem for NIS 110 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 10, 2013
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