The Marker, Adi Cohen, 16.02.2020

The Magurite Foundation announced on Sunday that it has signed an agreement to purchase 20 long-term rental apartments in Bnei Brak for NIS 38 million. The apartments were purchased from Shoham Building and Property Company, which owns a 23-apartment building located on Rabbi Akiva Street in the center of Bnei Brak.

The purchased apartments, housing units in a mix of four and five rooms, are expected to be delivered towards the end of 2020. This deal is being added to two more that Magurit reported from early 2020, including the purchase of 28 luxury apartments in a project in northern Tel Aviv and nine apartments in Herzliya.

In the past two months, some 260 apartments have been added to the company's assets, in deals totaling more than NIS 650 million. This inventory accumulates for 1,140 rental, construction and planning apartments, in 17 different projects the company has purchased so far.

The Magurite Foundation said that the background to the multitude of transactions lies in raising capital that the company completed in November 2019, during which the company issued NIS 414 million in shares. The company's CEO, Matti Dov, commented : "Bnei Brak is the most crowded city in the country and there is a huge shortage of apartments. The location of the building is expected to ensure very high occupancy rates with proper yields. The fact that the apartments will be delivered this year also adds to the viability of the deal. "

Magurit chairman Erez Rosenbuch added: "The dense spirit we received from the capital market following the recent IPO allows us to continue to purchase properties for long-term rentals. All indications in the market suggest that housing shortages will continue to worsen, so rental prices may continue the upward trend that has characterized them over the past decade. I believe the recent acquisitions will yield good results, and will bring value to investors and institutions who have trusted us. "