Israeli Treasury Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu), who declared war on investors who purchase three apartments or more – believing that this would encourage construction for young couples – has succeeded in debilitating one of Israel’s most thriving industries: The Central Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday announced that the increase of nearly 300% in the number of Israelis with two or more apartments, recorded between 2008 and 2015, was halted in 2016.
The data show that 9.7% of Israeli citizens owned two or more apartments in 2016, compared with 9.9% in 2015.
In 2016, 62.9% of householders owned only one dwelling (which is not necessarily where the apartment owner lived); 9.7% of householders owned two or more apartments (one or both of which were used as an investment).
27.4% of the Israelis did not own an apartment at all in 2016, a figure that has hardly changed in recent years.
In the lowest 10%, only 41.4% lived in the apartment they owned in 2016, while in the upper 10% as many as 81.4% lived in an apartment they own.
The CBS also reports that one out of three Israelis living in an apartment owned by them pays a mortgage, costing an average of $924 a month.
Regarding the value of the apartments they own, the CBS estimates the average apartment value $485,000 The average rent in Israel stood in 2016 at $877 a month.
The percentage of Israelis who own their homes has declined from 70.2% in 1997 to 67.6% in 2016.
The percentage of Israelis living in rented homes has increased from 24.3% in 1997 to 27.2% in 2016.
By and large, Israel does not have a rental housing industry, and virtually all rental apartments are owned by individual landlords.