Calcalist, Shlomit Tzur, 26.02.2020

The year 2020 is opening up in the mortgage market: According to data published on Tuesday, the Bank of Israel took new residential mortgages in the amount of NIS 6.1 billion. This is an increase of 16.5% compared to January last year (NIS 5.2 billion).

It is also up more than 6% in January compared to each of the past few months (except December, which was an all-time high).

The data shows that the increase in mortgage recycling continues. Last January, the volume of recyclables stood at NIS 465 million, more than double that of January 2019. The figures also show that NIS 723 million was borrowed in January 2020 for investment apartments, and NIS 909 million for apartments sold as part of a cost-per-plan plan.

Despite high demand, the level of interest rates in the mortgage market remained stable. For example, data from the Bank of Israel indicate that the interest rate on the shekel fixed-rate path was an average of 3.2% in January, similar to last month. However, this is a low interest rate compared to January last year, so the average interest rate was 4.1%.

A month ago, mortgage data was released for December, at which time the public took a record-breaking NIS 7.2 billion, putting 2019 at an all-time high in mortgage lending. At the same time, the January-December period, which is characterized by high trends in the mortgage market, should not be compared.

However, even in December 2019 compared to December 2018, this is a 20% increase in mortgages taken.

According to estimates of a housing price plan that did not lead to a fall in housing prices, the public dropped out of the fence and purchased apartments, both from those eligible who sought the benefit granted by the state, and from the non-eligible population segment, and his expectations of a fall in housing prices did not materialize. The absence of a government and even the current provider about the success of third elections may continue to intensify this phenomenon.