28,600 apartments were purchased in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 11% from the corresponding quarter, the Ministry of Finance reported today. Seasonal factors with the holidays falling early in the third quarter in 2011 rather than the fourth quarter in 2010 explained part of this rise.
The rise in the fourth quarter of 2011 follows two quarters of falls.
In the fourth quarter, there were exceptional rises of 29.4% and 19.3% in home sales in the Beersheva region and Rehovot respectively. Sales of homes in the Beersheva region were the highest in a decade.
The figures show that the dominant reason for the rise in home sales in these two locations was due to a sharp rise in the sales of new homes.
In Tel Aviv there was a 40% rise in the sale of new homes in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the corresponding quarter.
In contrast, in Netanya the number of home sales fell 1% in the fourth quarter compared with the corresponding quarter, after a fall of 22% in the preceding quarter.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 15, 2011
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