Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., October 20, 2008 Tishrei 21, 5769 | | Israel Time: 12:29 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
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
Last update - 02:47 20/10/2008
Rabbinic intervention helps keep housing cheap in religious areas
By Guy Liberman
Tags: housing prices 

People tend to prefer to live in homogenous neighborhoods that obey their way of life. There are whole cities, such as Bnei Brak and Elad, with a strong observant character: towns populated mainly by the ultra-Orthodox. And dotted around the country are ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in cities of mainly secular character.

The residents of the religious areas in the secular cities receive the same services as the other residents but may resort to blocking roads to traffic on Shabbat, not to mention having rabbinic supervision over prices at retail shops. But what does a religious character in a neighborhood do to property values?

The answer is at best nothing much, and at worst, home prices in the religious enclaves tend to be lower than in neighborhoods next door, according to a look at "closed" and simply observant-oriented neighborhoods in Israel's cities. Even when demand outstrips supply, prices in these areas tend not to rise.
Advertisement

One reason is that the neighborhood's character depresses demand for housing there by other kinds of people. Another is that often, large religious families can't afford top-quality housing, or evidently, to invest in routine maintenance. The buildings in their areas may be older and/or relatively inferior in construction standards, and more neglected.

Ashdod, for example, has a large observant community, but only one neighborhood closes down on Shabbat in the Zayin Quarter. It's peopled by the ultra-Orthodox and you can't buy an apartment there without the approval of the community rabbis. Other quarters, Gimmel, Vav and Tet, have large ultra-Orthodox and religious communities (in Gimmel, 66%
of the residents are Haredim), but none have closed their streets to travel on Shabbat.

And prices in all these religious neighborhoods are lower than in the rest of Ashdod, by tens of percent.

Ganei Tikva
The neighborhood of Yismach Moshe in Ganei Tikva houses several hundred
ultra-Orthodox and religious families, and it's the only large area in all of the greater Tel Aviv area (other than Bnei Brak) that blocks its roads on Shabbat. But don't think that does anything good for property values. They're lower than the average for the rest of Ganei Tikva.

"The religious neighborhood is divided into two parts," says agent Shmual Komami, of Anglo-Saxon Savyon. One is the "old area," mainly Harei Yehuda and Ein Ganim streets, where prices are low, and which are populated mainly by the Haredim. Then there's the newer area on Ein Shemesh Street, peopled by the national-religious community.

Three-room apartments in the old area sell for NIS 500,000 on average, and 4-room apartments go for NIS 600,000 to NIS 700,000. Prices climb in the newer area: a 3-room apartment on Ein Shemesh Street can command up to NIS 900,000 and a 4-room apartment may cost a million shekels or more. There are hardly any 5-room apartments but the few there will cost as much as NIS 1.25 million, Komami says.

What about the rest of Ganei Tikva? In Givat Savyon, which went up at the same time as the Ein Shemesh buildings, a 4-room apartment will cost NIS 1.5 million to NIS 1.6 million and a 5-room apartment may command NIS 2 million.

True, most of the homes sold in the old area never pass through agents. "I told friends I wanted to sell my apartment and got ten offers," says M., formerly of Ein Shemesh Street. Clearly, the demand is there. But prices stay lower.

Petah Tikva
The Hadar neighborhood in Petah Tikva, east of Route 40, is considered the best area in central Israel for the national-religious community: 75% of residents belong to that group and 15% are ultra-Orthodox. The rest are secular. The population of about 3,000 is mostly young. Its streets aren't closed on Shabbat but the nature of the area means little traffic on that day.

The community-oriented nature of the neighborhood has puffed up demand compared with similar areas in Petah Tikva such as Kfar Ganim. But Eitan Zamir of the Anglo-Saxon office in Petah Tikva says prices remain low compared with the city average. A 3-room apartment can sell for NIS 700,000 to NIS 800,000, and a 4-room apartment may cost NIS 820,000 to NIS 900,000. A 5-room apartment will cost up to NIS 1.05 million.

There's hardly any new construction in Hadar, but that hasn't lifted prices: The nature of the community, young couples, doesn't lend itself to profligacy. Also, the construction standards in the area are inferior.

Netanya
Netanya has a large observant population and two distinctly religious
neighborhoods, where some streets are closed to traffic on Shabbat.

Kiryat Zanz, in northwest Netanya, is a consolidated ultra-Orthodox community. Homes there aren't registered in the tabo (land registry). The community acts as a housing council: there's a committee that rules who may and may not live in the neighborhood.

The committee also rules on prices, which prevents steep increases. The high natural birthrate and the shortage of new construction has led the community to spread onto adjacent streets, by the way.

Also closed on Shabbat is Mishab, with 1,500 households. It's in eastern Netanya, next to Kiyat Hasharon and the Netanya College. Most of the residents here are national-religious.

Realtor Ahiam Navon, who runs the Anglo-Saxon branch in Kiryat Hasharon, says that a 3-room apartment in Mishab may range from NIS 700,000 to NIS 800,000. A 4-room apartment in the older area may cost NIS 850,000 while a similar apartment in the newer area may cost NIS 950,000.

Navon believes that prices in this area are unreasonably high, but they're still 10% less than in the nearby area of Kiryat Hasharon. Most of the buildings are older and their facades have been neglected, he adds.

Lod
Lod has two ultra-Orthodox areas where traffic is blocked off on Shabbat: The older one is Habad, which has a few hundred families. Again demand outstrips supply, but the residents are poor, which keeps prices in check. Apartments with 3.5 to 4 rooms may sell for as little as NIS 500,000 to NIS 550,000, which is below the average for Lod.

The other religious area is in the city center: Neve Zayit. It was recently populated by more than 100 national-religious families, buying mostly ground-floor and penthouse apartments for NIS 750,000 to NIS 850,000.

Haifa
Moving on to Haifa, we find a few streets in the Hadar area closed down on Shabbat. Realtor Yair Pe'er says the prices there are the lowest in the mountain city. A 3- to 4-room apartment may cost as little as NIS 180,000 to NIS 200,000.

Most of the buildings in the area are old and, says Pe'er, their buyers tend to be investors who fix them up a bit and rent them out for just NIS 1,200 to NIS 2,000 a month.

Rehovot
Rehovot has a strong ultra-Orthodox and national-religious presence. It has no neighborhoods that close their streets on Shabbat, but does have individual streets that do so, such as Menashe Kapra, Margolin and Bar Ilan, each in a different part of the city. That fact has not increased their desirability in general, not even among the ultra-Orthodox and national-religious communities. At least, property broker Zion Peretz
of the Kidma realty company says he hasn't noticed any special demand to live there.

Prices on the "closed" streets range from NIS 750,000 to NIS 1,000,000 for a 3-room to 4-room apartment. On specific streets devoted to specific ultra-Orthodox communities, the rabbis intervene to keep prices low, says Peretz. "There's huge demand for housing in this neighborhood, but there's hardly any new construction," he says. Some community members are agitating to develop a 250-apartment project next door, but financing is a problem.

Rahamim Melloul, formerly a Knesset member and today a member of the Rehovot city council, says that no municipal decision was made to close off specific streets on Shabbat. But they've been closing down for decades, he adds. It's become a tradition.

Related articles:
  • Matchmaker, find me an affordable 3-room apartment
  • U.S. Haredim investing heavily in Tel Aviv real estate
  • Gov't promoting plan for new ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood

    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Saudi peace plan
    Barak says it may be time to pursue an overall peace deal for the region.
    Wiesel on Ahmadinejad
    Nobel laureate says president's U.N. speech shows world hasn't learned from Holocaust.
      1.   Who wrote this headline? 07:20  |  Rina 20/10/08
      2.   Okay, Guy, so your title sidetracks the issue, . . . 11:57  |  Zev Davis 20/10/08
     Read & React
    Israel expects U.S.-Iran talks if Obama elected
    Responses: 188
    Settler leader: Palestinian olive farmers destroy their own groves
    Responses: 116
    Barak: Protests for Shalit release could raise price of deal
    Responses: 63
    IDF mulls charging citizens for emergency gas masks
    Responses: 29
    Barak: Israel giving serious thought to Saudi peace plan
    Responses: 110


    More Headlines
    10:03 Israel mulling non-aggression treaty with Lebanon
    12:25 Livni asks president for extension to form government
    09:08 ANALYSIS / Shas leaders think Livni can't give them what they want
    08:19 Seven Arabs injured in clashes with Jews in Jerusalem
    11:40 Kadima supporters' website brands Pope Benedict with Nazi swastika
    11:18 Abbas to Palestinians: Plant a million trees to foil settler attacks
    12:04 Holon man arrested after threatening life of Netanyahu and family
    11:44 Shattered remnants from Kristallnacht found in dump outside Berlin
    02:47 Rabbinic intervention helps keep housing cheap in religious areas
    06:09 Saudi official presents new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan
    06:27 New town for IDF bases is great hope of Negev, Be'er Sheva
    00:48 VIDEO / Ashdod man stabs ex-wife to death in front of witnesses
    03:48 Tourism to north increases slightly since beginning of Sukkot holiday
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    Living in Israel Studying in English
    Click & Meet our students from all around the world
    Dial 013 for your long-distance calls
    and get all your money back
    US CITIZENS
    Vote for real change. Request your ballot today!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
    Jewish Singles Personal Ads
    Find the love of your life on JDate.com
    Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
    www. israel-property.com
    Hebrew Summer courses
    From $39.95
    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