The total number of new mortgages granted by the banks in Israel in November is NIS 10.98 billion

The total number of new mortgages granted by the banks in Israel in November is NIS 10.98 billion, an increase of 2.5% compared to NIS 10.7 billion in October, according to data from the Bank of Israel. Since the beginning of 2021, NIS 104 billion in mortgages have been taken out - further evidence that 2021 is a particularly strong year in the real estate market. During the third quarter.
If in 2020 the total monthly mortgage taking averaged about NIS 6.5 billion, then 2021 is expected to end with a monthly average of NIS 9.45 billion in taking out mortgages. This is despite the fact that the total mortgage taken in November reached an amount lower than 6% on average in the peak months of the year - June, July and August.
Among the factors contributing to the increase in apartment purchases are the lack of confidence in the government's ability to lower prices after two years of paralysis due to the epidemic, the boom in the high-tech industry and the low interest rate environment. The average overall interest rate on index-linked mortgages in November is 2.06%, which is pushing many to deal in the housing market. The interest rate this year is lower than last year, under the influence of Bank of Israel decisions since the beginning of the year regarding the abolition of the prime interest rate limit. Until the Bank of Israel's decision, the prime portion was limited to 33%, and it is now possible to take out a loan with a prime interest rate of 66%.
According to data from the Bank of Israel, in November the share of the mortgage at a fixed interest rate was 40%, while the amount at a variable interest rate was 60% of the total mortgages granted. According to Eyal Bahari, CEO of the Zim Bahari Group, "There is no doubt that the turning point in the mortgage market was in December 2020, when the Governor of the Bank of Israel allowed two-thirds of the mortgage to be taken at prime interest rates. The decision was wrong in the first place, because the housing market emerged from the corona crisis back then and is now twice as wrong. It must be canceled immediately! "
The Tax Authority published the tax data on housing income in 2021, and referred to the acceleration of activity in the real estate market compared to 2019-2017, and compared to the peak of the corona crisis in 2020. Praise tax revenues increased in January-October 2021 by 70% compared to the same period in 2019 and reached NIS 6.3 billion. Purchase tax revenues increased by a similar rate of 72% and reached NIS 9.8 billion.
2021 is expected to end with an annual increase of more than 10% in housing prices, and despite the state's efforts to increase land marketing - it seems that in the immediate term this will have no effect on housing market prices and mortgage demand.