Young people must leave J'lem, T.A. to make way for rich homeowners

As more and more wealthy buyers flood the real estate market, young people in Israel's two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, are discovering there's no room left for them.

Much affordable housing in both cities is being slowly replaced by luxury towers. In Tel Aviv, the average price of a luxury apartment is $5,000 per square meter, the highest in the Middle East.

Young people are leaving Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in droves, with the sensation that the real estate market is becoming for the rich only. And not necessarily Israel's rich.

Homes are being snapped up by foreign buyers, many of them from France and the United States, who visit Israeli on holidays and leave the apartments empty for the rest of the year. Brokers estimate these buyers are responsible for roughly half of luxury apartment sales.