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Housing inventory slumps to lowest level in over a decade By Guy Liberman Tags: Herzliya, Housing, Tel Aviv Israel's inventory of new apartments for sale has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, which may indicate a future upswing in prices. Only 9,410 apartments were available for sale as of the end of February, nearly 30% less than a year before, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. New apartment sales fell by 4% in January-February compared with the same period of 2007, and worse - when the figures for those two months are compared with the two preceding months, November and December of 2007, the drop is 5%. The only area spared consumer scorn was central Israel, where demand for housing remains as strong as ever. In fact, new apartment sales were 20% greater in January-February than in the same months of last year. However, if Tel Aviv is removed from the figures, then there was a drop of 13%. Advertisement The decline in sales was sharpest in Judea and Samaria: 56%. Only 32 new apartments were sold in that region during January and February. Northern Israel saw a drop of 8.8%, the Central Bureau of Statistics says. Moreover, the number of building starts for housing is also declining. The Central Bureau of Statistics says that the inventory of new apartments for sale, as of the end of February, will suffice for 27 months in Jerusalem, 11 months in the Haifa area, and about 10 months in the North. In Tel Aviv, the number of new flats for sale will last 11 months. In the future, the situation should be very different. About 700 new apartments worth a billion shekels in sales terms will be built by the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya, albeit not in time to solve the growing crunch. The Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Committee approved the local planning committee plan to build the housing on a 275-dunam area by the center. The plan also calls for commercial space. Most of the land in question belongs to private individuals, which means that it's going to take a long time before the first cornerstone is laid. The area in question stretches from the Jewish Brigade Street in the north, Alterman Street in the south, Jabotinsky Street in the west and Kanfei Nesharim Street in the east. If that sounds eerily familiar, perhaps it's because you served there: the land once housed an army base that was closed down in 1994. The Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya sits on part of that "demilitarized" land. It isn't as though Herzliya is short of land for development. In fact it has enough to double the number of apartments in the seaside city to roughly 60,000. Yet new building in the city is rare, in part because of planning problems. Much of the land available for development happens to be contaminated. This is land in the city's north-west and south-east of the city, and used to belong to the Israel Aerospace Industries. Also, the municipal airport is in the way and its evacuation is being dragged out too. Then there are legal problems regarding the Glil Yam development, which calls for the construction of 3,100 apartments. In short, there will be new housing available in Herzliya, one day. Just not any day soon. Tel Aviv may also receive a whole new neighborhood: this week the Interior Ministry's District Planning and Building Council approved the plan, which calls for the construction of more than 11,000 new apartments between New Ramat Aviv, the Glilot intersection and the Colony Hotel. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Graphic footage Israel posts clips on YouTube of Jerusalem yeshiva terror attack. Remembering Gaza Knesset approves bill to commemorate the Jewish settlements of Gush Katif.

Today Online Israel posts clips on YouTube of Jerusalem yeshiva terror attack Responses: 47 Rights group: Deaths in IDF W. Bank raid were apparent executions Responses: 222 Top rabbis: Harvesting organs of the brain dead is `bloodshed` Responses: 65 Defense officials: Hezbollah rockets can reach almost all of Israel Responses: 208 More Headlines 09:42 Ben-Eliezer: Israel working to bring Syria back to negotiations 10:11 Hamas gets Iranian plans for improved Qassams 08:59 Palestinians: Hamas militant killed in clashes with IDF in Gaza 09:00 Rice to discuss final-status talks during Mideast visit next week 09:23 Dutch MP's anti-Islam film highlights clerics' anti-Jewish preaching 07:43 Bulgaria accepts blame for deaths of 11,000 Jews in Shoah 07:46 ANALYSIS: Isolating Syria serves to highlight its importance 06:30 Scientists find prescription drugs in water used for irrigation 06:51 Police grill minister over junket funded by agricultural firm 01:29 Lieberman stripped of attorney-client privilege in bribery probe 01:37 Israeli ties to win top prize in prestigious Rubinstein competition 23:08 Druze colonel appointed to be president's next military secretary 10:03 Tel Aviv goes dark as part of global 'Earth Hour' campaign Previous Editions Select Day 27 mar 26 mar 25 mar 24 mar 23 mar 21 mar 20 mar 19 mar 18 mar 17 mar 16 mar 14 mar

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