Last week, the Ministry of Finance published the monthly data regarding real estate transactions, from which it emerged, among other things, that last April purchases by foreign residents jumped by 82% compared to the low recorded at the same time last year. It also appears that against the background of the surge in anti-Semitic incidents in the world and an increase of about 400% in requests by Jews to immigrate to Israel.
Maor Doak, CEO of Manif Financial Services Company, says: “Until now, Jewish expatriates have purchased properties in Israel for two main reasons: Zionism and religious belief. A third reason arose following the war: a desire to own an apartment to which one could escape. There has been a big increase in interest, and you can see the beginnings of the trend, but we will feel it more in the coming quarters. Although we expected the impact to be higher and we will see it already in the first quarter reports, but buying an apartment is a decision that takes time.”
If in the past the demand was concentrated in the coastal cities such as Tel Aviv and Netanya as well as in Jerusalem, today some of the Diaspora Jews prefer to buy apartments specifically in cities where the prices are lower and the apartments are relatively large.
“Israel has always been an attractive destination for foreign resident investors, and in times of war or during manifestations of anti-Semitism in the world, we see a strengthening of this trend, when there is an increase in the number of Jews who decide to purchase an apartment in Israel,” says Dan Moyal, VP of Marketing and Sales at Shikun and Binui Real N. “The choice to buy an apartment here stems from several reasons, the first is psychological: Jews from abroad feel safer when they own property in Israel. The second is an economic investment: they see the consistent increase in housing prices and understand that this is an economic transaction after all. The third reason is related to the desire to maintain a connection to Israel, and many times they own an apartment here where they can stay when they come to visit Israel.”
According to him, “Since the beginning of the war we have seen an increase not only in demand but also in actual purchases. The absolute majority of buyers in our projects are Jews from France.
