 If you've been around Zichron Yaacov in the last three weeks, you probably noticed dozens of new faces in supermarkets and shops, in the pedestrian mall. These are "refugees" fleeing from the north in fear of the rockets fired at Haifa and the northern region. They can be seen in Ma'agan Michael and Caeseria, In Binyamina, in Zichron Yaacov's summer camps.
I use brackets for "refugees" in order to describe those people, and we shouldn't know from such misfortunes, but many Haifa and other northern residents have left their homes, at least temporarily, and are having trouble finding alternative housing in our region. In the last two years the inventory of houses steadily decreased, and furnished apartments for short-term rent are very rare, and rent is still on the rise. What actually happened? In the past two years the real-estate market has been on the rise. Demands increased in the central region in Tel-Aviv and Ha'sharon, and in our area as well, and many houses that were available for rent were purchased by buyers, lowering the supply of houses for rent, while the number of people interested in renting an apartment in the area was rising. This rise is related to the relatively good state of security in Israel. In addition, we must remember that the value of rented properties also risen. Owners of properties probably wanted to receive higher returns for their properties, and therefore raised the monthly rent. And what about the renters? Renters weren't really startled by the rising prices, and they continue to arrive to the area (one of the reasons for this is that the rent in other areas was raised as well). Add this to the fact that many immigrants and returning residents arrive from places abroad where they are used to paying much higher rental fees, and the result - rental fees are continuing to rise and break new records each months, and it doesn't seem as though the owners' ability to raise rent has been used to such a point where they cannot find renters for their properties. Here are a few examples: our clients, who used to pay $700-$750 per month for a cottage near the center of the colony, are now willing to pay $1000 dollars a month and more. In Givat-Eden, a villa that used to cost $800-$900 per month will be rented today for $1000 (over 30% increase in two years!). A two bedroom apartment that would have been rented for less than $350 two years ago will cost $500 a month today (40-50% increase). To the renters of this market we can now add the Hezbollah rocket "refugees". When the fights are over, most of them will return to their homes, but we hope that at least some of them will like our wonderful settlements and will stay with us, increasing the demand in the area even more. |
