Luxury Housing Market in the State of Israel for 2007
A summary of the annual survey by the Israeli Construction Center
The luxury housing market in the State of Israel has grown in the last two years by 436% (and represents today Israel’s housing branch most significant growth engine). In recent years the Israeli Building Center’s economists are witnesses to an increasingly growing phenomenon of the purchase of luxury houses and apartments by foreign residents.
Desired Prestigious Areas:
• Luxury towers being constructed and marketed in Tel Aviv.
• Luxury towers and projects being built and marketed in Jerusalem.
• Luxury homes being built in prestigious settlements surrounding the central region (Savyon, Herzliyah Pituach, North Tel Aviv, Kfar Shmaryahu, prestigious villages in the Sharon Valley).
• Restoration of existing luxury apartments and houses.
The market’s volume is evaluated by the Israeli Building Center’s economists at about 4,300 units per annum.
Origins of those customers seeking luxury housing:
• New wealthy segment particularly from the hi-tech industry, real estate and diamonds.
• Migration from private housing in prestigious suburban neighborhoods to towers in the city centers.
• Wealthy Jews from the USA, France and England purchasing assets for investment purposes.
The prices of luxury dwellings have risen in the last two years at an average of 37% and are currently ranging in the region of about $4,000 to $12,000 per square meter.
Home Design:
Research undertaken during recent months indicates that an average family invests amounts, ranging between $300,000 to $800,000, in designing the dwelling after its purchase. The majority of the investments are in the luxury furniture sphere, kitchens, doors, home cinema systems, bathrooms, lighting and aluminum.
It should be noted that in surveys covering the last few years, we have revealed a significant rise in awareness of the upper income class in Israel for designer brands and for international designs, and currently, acquiring designer items of leading global companies has evolved into a status symbol in the home, which has engendered a most significant rise in preferring international designer brands over Israeli qualitative producers.