Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., August 29, 2008 Av 28, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:04 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Ehud Barak slept here By Raz Smolsky and Guy Liberman Tags: Israel, real estate  Forty million shekels, that's how much Ehud Barak wants for his apartment in Akirov Towers in Tel Aviv. That's a hefty bundle above its market value. Can he and his wife Nili Priell really dare ask that much, even considering he apartment in question is an extraordinarily spacious one sporting, some 370 square meters of space and a glorious view of the city? No, says one realtor. "Prices like that don't exist in Israel, certainly not now, with the prices of apartments in the high-rises declining," elaborates Ronny Manne, who has a line in brokering luxury flats. "A realistic price for a 350-square meter apartment in that residential tower is NIS 25 million, even if it's a luxury one with bathroom faucets made of gold." Another broker who's sold a number of second-hand flats in the very same project agrees that Barak's NIS 40 million asking price is completely over the top. "I have some apartments for sale at the Akirov Towers, I've been holding some of them for months," he says. "A price of NIS 40 million is double the accepted level. True, the others are apartments on lower stories, but still, the difference Barak is demanding is very high." Advertisement Naturally, that NIS 40 million price tag is the asking price. Any buyer would negotiate. "It's all nonsense," snorted a third realtor. "It's clear to anybody who knows the prices that it's double the level in the market. It's completely unrealistic." During the last few years, not a few of Israel's household names have bought luxury apartments. Shari Arison, who owns the controlling interest in Bank Hapoalim, among other things, bought a triplex in G Tower, on the corner of Ibn Gvirol and Hashoftim in Tel Aviv, for $13 million. In January this year Idan Ofer of Israel Corporation broke city records with his purchase of a $17.5 million apartment on the uppermost story of the Rothschild 1 project, also in Tel Aviv. In the Akirov Towers, one of the most talked-about deals involved Sammy Ofer, Idan's father. He bought a whole story in 2004 of one of the towers, the rooftop 32nd one, for $12 million, which is about NIS 53 million. But the biggest deal in the Akirov Towers took place a year ago, roughly, when a buyer bought half a story, about the same area as Barak's apartment, for $8 million, or about NIS 34 million. But real estate sector sources say that deal can't be compared with the one that the former chief of staff and Labor Party chairman is offering. "The apartment sold then was especially groomed, which resulted in a premium estimated at about $2 million beyond the realistic market price of the flat. That's why it sold for so much," one source explains. Why does Barak think he can beat the market? Possibly because people assume that the value of a property will jump because of an association with a historic personality. "George Washington slept here" should be worth a lot more than "Yossi Cohen brushed his teeth at this sink." But the theory is one thing and the reality is another. Can the identity of the seller really generate a premium that high? One realtor specializing in luxury properties in north Tel Aviv says premium, yes, within reason. "The story of a property has value, even much value. It's like a collector's item. If a home belonged to an important person, or if it has rare significance, then its price will be affected. But Barak's apartment is, at the end of the day, just another apartment in a big, luxury housing complex and other than the identity of the seller, it doesn't have many unique points." Of course, Barak could find a buyer in a devoted follower, he adds. A few months ago the duplex formerly belonging to Yitzhak and Leah Rabin on Rabbi Ashi Street, in Neve Atidim, sold for NIS 4 million. Realtors say that the apartment had been on the market for a year before a buyer appeared. Potential buyers were more deterred by the physical neglect of the property than they were delighted by the opportunity to taste history, the brokers sigh. Barak sold his former home in Kfar Shmaryahu for $3.5 million in 2004. Then, too, he waited for the right buyer, who was willing to pay a relatively high amount. Property broker Zafrir Wertenfeld of Tilan Real Estate believes that only now, after real-estate prices have risen over years, could that particular house sell for that much. But the reason Barak got that much at the time was not, apparently, his celebrity. It was that the buyer was his next-door neighbor, Ruth Pick, the daughter of billionaire technology entrepreneur and manufacturer Stef Wertheimer. Asked bluntly if Barak's brand as former prime minister could possibly boost the price of his apartment, Ronny Manne answers, "Not certain. After all, it's Ehud Barak, not Charles de Gaulle." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Three years in captivity Aviva Shalit accuses politicians of being too busy with their own affairs to free her son. Hezbollah in Venezuela Western gov'ts fear the group is establishing cells in the South American country.

Read & React Judea Pearl: U.S. media suffer from 'Down with Israel' syndrome Responses: 119 Israeli peace pioneer Abie Nathan dies aged 81 Responses: 58 Abbas: All Palestinians should be given right to return home Responses: 52 Aluf Benn: The first American military base on Israeli territory Responses: 34 More Headlines 23:22 Aviva Shalit: Politicians too busy with their own affairs to free my son 23:34 2 Israeli Arabs arrested over suspected Jihad plot to kill pilots, scientists 22:48 Abbas: All Palestinians should be given right to return home 01:10 Democrats to celebrate Obama's 'landmark' nomination with grand spectacle 23:45 Did Hezbollah shoot down Lebanese military helicopter? 23:18 Nigerian militants: We know where abducted Israeli is held 14:58 Record yeshiva enrollment predicted to cost economy NIS 5 billion 23:10 Chief justice lambasts media for reducing public trust in judiciary 16:27 Report: West fears Hezbollah setting up cells in Venezuela 20:44 Ex-Shin Bet man suspected of selling stolen gas to Gazans 20:07 400 Druze cross into Syria through Golan for annual pilgrimage 21:12 Blockade-busting boats leave Gaza Strip for Cyprus 18:14 Talansky to be questioned in U.S. over role in suspected Olmert graft 15:58 Shin Bet chief: Hebrew Univ. rector slandered my agency 01:40 Holocaust welfare fund leaves Hungarian survivors in the lurch Previous Editions Select Day 28 aug 27 aug 26 aug 25 aug 24 aug 22 aug 21 aug 20 aug 19 aug 18 aug 17 aug 15 aug

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com MBA in Israel in English APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved