The official elimination of the 0% VAT plan at the beginning of last December brought purchasers of a first home back into the market, according to the Ministry of Finance survey of the residential real estate sector in December 2014 published today.
The survey further indicates that new housing purchasers bought 3,500 homes in December, a number not seen since the Ministry of Finance began monitoring this statistic in 2002. At the same time, the increase in housing purchases by first apartment purchasers pushed the volume of housing purchased for investment in December down by 21%, the lowest figure in recent years.
According to the survey, there were 11,300 housing purchase deals in December, up 16%, compared with 9,752 deals in the preceding month. The Ministry of Finance figures reported that the volume of deals in December 2014 was the highest since December 2013.
Together with the rise in the total number of deals in December, the data also show a continued rise in in purchases by first apartment buyers, including by young couples. The nationwide volume of purchases by this group leaped 44% in December 2014, compared with the preceding months.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2015
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