Apartment prices up 72% since 2007
Central Bureau of Statistics figures show sharpest rise in housing prices occurred in 2009. Number of Israelis living in apartment they own remains stables over past four decades
According to the figures, from 2000 to 2006 apartment prices in Israel dropped 12%.
Starting in the 1970s, the income composition changed over the years – with a constant decrease in income from work and an increase in income from pensions and National Insurance Institute allowances.
The figures also show that the component of income from pensions is higher among households which do not own an apartment, but has recorded a decline over the years – from about 22% of the income in 2003 to some 19% in 2011.
Moving back to real estate, the figures reveal that in the mid 1950s most households (57%) lived in rented apartments, including on a key-money basis, while the rest lived in an apartment they owned.
From the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s, there was a significant rise in the number of households living in an apartment they owned, reaching 71% of households with an apartment of their own in the mid 1970s. That figure has remained stable since then.
What about home sizes? In 1976, apartments of five rooms and more made up just 4% of all constructed apartments, reaching 55% in 2012. According to the CBS, today's construction for housing is characterized by a trend of tall buildings, yet most apartments being built in Israel are still in buildings of up to four floors.
In 1995, only 7% of apartments were constructed in buildings of nine stories or more. This rate reached more than 30% in 2012. At the same time, a drop has been recorded in the number of apartments constructed in buildings of one to four floors – from 74% in 1995 to 51% in 2012.
Rise in satisfaction with life
The CBS further found that among households which own one apartment there has been a moderate rise in mortgage payments – from an average of NIS 1,960 (about $552) in 2003 to an average of NIS 2,442 ($688) in 2011 –a rise of just 4.8% in actual terms.
In addition, there has been an increase in the component of income from work – from 75.5% in 2003 to 77.5% in 2011.
The component of income from capital and income from pensions and support saw a slight decrease. Among households which do not own an apartment there has been an even more significant increase in the income from work component – from 72.5% in 2003 to 76.9% in 2011.
The income from pensions and support is the highest among households which do not own an apartment, but it has declined over the years – from 22.2% of income in 2003 to 18.8% in 2011.
The past decade has seen an increase in Israelis' satisfaction with life, with the economic situation and with their ability to cover household expenses. In 2011, 88% said they were satisfied with their lives, compared to 83% in 2002. Sixty percent were satisfied with their economic situation in 2011 compared to 48% in 2002.
In 2011, 61% said they managed to cover all of their household's routine monthly expenses – for food, electricity, telephone bills, etc – compared to 50% in 2005.
The figures also reveal that in 2011, 26% of Israelis aged 20 and up felt lonely often or occasionally, compared to 32% in 2002. In 2011, 9% said they had no one to turn to at times of crisis or distress, compared to 13% in 2002.
The number of Israelis registered in social services departments went up from 14.3% in 2000 to 16.9% in 2011. Among Arabs there was a 67% increase, from 13.4% in 2000 to 22.5% in 2011. In 2010, the 51.6% of those registered in social services departments in working ages – 15-64 – were hired workers and their average gross monthly salary was NIS 4,954 ($1,396), compared to the average salary of NIS 8,430 (2,376) in the Israeli economy.
