The cooling of the residential real estate has, naturally, reached the mortgage market. The Bank of Israel reported today that new mortgages to the tune of NIS 4.12 billion were taken out in February this year, which compares with NIS 4.42 billion in January, NIS 4.69 billion in December, and NIS 4.88 billion in February 2016. According to the central bank's figures, of the total of new mortgages in February, NIS 2.24 billion was in variable interest rate loans, and NIS 1.87 in fixed-rate loans. RELATED ARTICLES Foreign residents Israel home purchases down 31% New home purchases continue falling Why Israel is heading for a housing disaster This month the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that 29.88 thousand new homes were sold in Israel in 2016, 4.9% fewer than in 2015. Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 26, 2017 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017