Massive drop in West Bank housing starts in first half of 2014

Central Bureau of Statistics says work began on 1,807 settler homes through June 2013, compared with 507 in same period this year.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Houses can be seen at the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maale Efrayim in the Jordan Valley (photo credit: REUTERS)
Houses can be seen at the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maale Efrayim in the Jordan Valley
(photo credit: REUTERS)
There was a 72 percent drop in settler housing starts during the first half of 2014, compared to the same time last year, according to data published on Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Similarly, there was a 7.2% decrease in the number of finished homes in West Bank settlements, according to the CBS. This matched the 7% decline in finished homes country wide.
The 10.8% decrease in housing starts across the nation, was markedly different from the steep decline in West Bank settlements.
According to the CBS, work began on 1,807 settler homes through June 2013, compared with 507 in the same period this year.
The dip sounds dramatic, but construction in Judea and Samaria settlements was unusually high in 2013 in comparison to the last few years.
In 2012, for example, there were 616 housing starts during the same period.
On inspecting the figures, there were 1,109 housing starts in West Bank settlements in 2011, 1,205 in 2012 and 2,684 in 2013.
In terms of finished projects, there were 1,682 completed homes in West Bank settlements in 2012, 1,271 in 2012 and 1,439 in 2013.
The Central Bureau of Statistics always publishes housing data for the first two quarters of the year at the end of August.
The publication of this data bears no relationship to the diplomatic process with respect to the Gaza ceasefire nor is it related to the announcement Sunday of the addition of 400 hectares (almost 1,000 acres) of state land in the Gush Etzion region.