Central Jerusalem is quickly turning into a ghost town - Haaretz

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Tue., November 27, 2007 Kislev 17, 5768

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Last update - 11:54 26/11/2007

Central Jerusalem is quickly turning into a ghost town

By Raz Smolsky

Tags: Jerusalem

"Large parts of ny neighborhood look desolate at night, no one is out on the street and the houses are dark. The building where I live has eight apartments. Only three are occupied continuously through the year, while the owners of the other apartments come to visit for a few weeks a year," explained Jonathan Levirer, a resident of Jerusalem's exclusive Talbieh neighborhood.

According to the first study of its kind ever conducted on the subject of foreign ownership in Jerusalem, a third of all the apartments sold in Talbieh in 2007, and 40 percent of those in certain of the city's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods were sold to foreign residents. The study, conducted by Levirer's Kiryata Municipal Consulting company showed that 20 percent of all apartments in the center of town are already owned by foreign residents, and stand empty for most of the year.

In 2007, about 10 percent of all the apartments sold in Jerusalem; a total of 1,800 residences were bought by foreigners.

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The Jerusalem neighborhood with the highest percentage of foreign-owned apartments is Romema, with almost 30 percent, according to the study. Next came Talbieh, with 20 percent foreign ownership, and then the German Colony and Rehavia, with about 14 percent foreign ownership each.

What is drawing in all these foreigners?

Rehavia and Talbieh are within walking distance of the Old City, and the latter is especially desirable for its many old Arab buildings with gardens. Foreign buyers are often prepared to pay almost any price for them.

Up until three years ago, those prices were in the $5,000-to-$7,000 per square meter range, but today they often reach as high as $13,000. These prices are out of reach for the average Israeli, and have left the high-end market to rich, mostly Orthodox foreigners, more ofthen than not from Belgium or France.

Though the situation was until recently a curiosity, during the past year the situation has become much worrying. "The laundrymat in the neighborhood has closed down," said Levirer. "There is still a small grocery store, but I assume that the nursery schools and kindergartens will close in the future since there will no longer be a need for child care. The small businesses too will disappear," warned Levirer.

"Also in social terms there is a problem. What young couple would want to buy an apartment here? Those remaining are the older population and the foreigners."

Other problems include safety and security, said another resident. Empty apartments invite burglars. On the plus side, wealthy foreigners tend to pay their building fees on time and are willing to spend money to keep their buildings maintained. Parking is less of a problem now too.

But the real impact is that the center of Jerusalem is emptying out, especially as the foreign residents are able to leave their apartments empty most of the time when they are absent, and not rent them out.

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1.	They Will Be Re-Inhabited Soon Enough	13:12	\|	Yishai Kohen	26/11/07

2.	Good News	13:43	\|	Bandar Michaels	26/11/07

3.	Limits are Foreign Investment are Needed	15:00	\|	ARTH	26/11/07

4.	Discrimination against the young native- born Israelis	15:32	\|	Shalom Freedman	26/11/07

5.	They will be uninhabited as Jews leave Israel	16:08	\|	SJ	26/11/07

6.	we need more foreigners	16:08	\|	juliette	26/11/07

7.	NO Jews are foreigners	17:21	\|	Aaron	26/11/07

8.	5 SJ - so profound , obviously Mr Lapid in disguise.	19:32	\|	S Judah	26/11/07

9.	Which city are we talking about here?	19:57	\|	Don Camillo	26/11/07

10.	To bandar Michaels	20:50	\|	Dudu	26/11/07

11.	Ghost Town	21:10	\|	Slibovitz	26/11/07

12.	The answer for young couples: move to Modi`in	22:26	\|	Leo	26/11/07

13.	10. Ditto Dudu in regards to Bandar...	22:55	\|	bat yam	26/11/07

14.	Bah, with wages of 3800 to 4000 I am not competing.	06:42	\|	gustavo	27/11/07

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