CBS: Apartment prices fall 2.2 percent in Q2

Prices in the high-end market fell more than the low-end market, but rent continued to climb, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

By GLOBES/ADI BEN-ISRAEL
Housing 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Housing 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The average home price fell 2.2 percent to NIS 1.1 million in the second quarter of 2011 from NIS 1.3 million in the preceding quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday. The drop was not uniform. Prices were flat in Jerusalem; fell in Tel Aviv, the Sharon, and the South; and rose in Haifa and the North, and in Tel Aviv suburbs in the Dan and Central regions.
The average home price fell 6.5% in Tel Aviv to NIS 1.83 million in the second quarter from NIS 1.96 in the preceding quarter, and fell by 0.2% in Jerusalem to NIS 1.53 million from NIS 1.54 million. The drops affected the high-end market more than the low-end market. In Tel Aviv, the average price of a 4.5-5 room apartment fell 15% to NIS 3.06 million in the second quarter from NIS 3.62 million in the corresponding quarter, but the average price of a 2.5-3 room apartment rose 1.4% to NIS 1.66 million from NIS 1.64 million.
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The average home price in Haifa rose 10.7% to NIS 801,600 in the second quarter from NIS 723,500 in the corresponding quarter. Prices rose in all market segments; the average price of a 4.5-5 room apartment rose to NIS 1.41 million.
The average home price in the Dan region rose to NIS 1.26 million from NIS 1.24 million, and rose in the neighboring Central region to NIS 1.21 million from NIS 1.19 million, but fell 6.6% in the Sharon region to NIS 1.34 million from NIS 1.44 million.
The average home price in the Southern region fell to NIS 776,700 in the second quarter from NIS 794,700 in the preceding quarter, but rose to NIS 724,500 in the North from NIS 646,400.
Even as home prices fell, rent rose, with the exception of Jerusalem. The national average rent rose 1.4% to NIS 3,103 in the second quarter from NIS 3,059 in the preceding quarter. Rent rose in all market segments. In Tel Aviv, the average rent rose to NIS 4,408 in the second quarter from NIS 4,356 in the corresponding quarter, with rent for 4.5-5 room apartments rising to NIS 7,207 from NIS 6,904.
In Jerusalem, the average rent dipped 0.6% to NIS 3,533 in the second quarter from NIS 3,556, although rent for 4.5-5 room apartments rose to NIS 5,249 from NIS 5,149.