Atias vows: Land reform will make homes cheaper

Mere moments after the Knesset approved the Israel Lands Authority Law, Housing and Construction Minister of Ariel Atias mounted the podium to address the forum. Unlike the long speech he had delivered from the same place and on the same matter just a week and a half before, following which the humiliated coalition was forced to withdraw the bill due to lack of support, this time Atias' mien was relaxed. If anything he had to make an obvious effort to avoid gloating over the bill's opponents, of which there were many.

When you were appointed to this post, did you think that there would be such opposition to the reform?

Atias: "No, I thought that there would be more discussion of its content and less sloganeering. There has been a great deal of demagoguery and populism in the various arguments against the reform. This reform has been debated in numerous public committees, and then it unfortunately moved into the political court of opposition vs. coalition. It's a shame that the very same politicians who voted in favor of the plan just a few years ago, now oppose it. Some even used slogans about the privatization of land. I would like to state that there can be no greater lie than this, and that a few politicians have enjoyed a great ride with this idea in the media."

There was also strong opposition coming from social activist organizations and youth groups.

"One of the politicians who objected to the reform told me that the issue of selling land is like a religion. In other words, land must not be traded. I say this is a fiction. Land has been traded for years. After 49 years of leasing, is it even possible to stop the lease? It's all a fiction. Perhaps at one time there was benefit and reason to not sell land, at the state's inception, and that's fine. But if all it provides is bureaucracy, what is the point?

"A few youth groups addressed this issue, not a flood. I have seen the figures. Much more drama was made of it all than what really happened. I think that there is no ideology involved in the issue of land sale - only essence.

Bureaucracy "makes up" housing values

Atias is considered a rising star in the Shas party. At the age of 32, he managed Shas' Badatz Beit Yossef, the organization that grants kashrut certificates for its ultra-Orthodox constituents. At 35, he was appointed minister of communications.

He is known to be close to Shas's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, whose portrait hangs prominently in his bureau at the ministry.

As communications minister, Atias threw his weight behind consumer advocacy issues, such as shortening contract terms with cellular companies from 36 to 18 months. He appears to be maintaining a similar tack in his new post as Housing minister. His messages crafted to address primarily apartment buyers and young adults.

Contrary to the market trend of recent years, we can expect prices to drop during his tenure, Atis says.

How will the reform affect our lives?

"Bureaucracy costs money and increases the price of apartments. It adds 20% to the price of an apartment, because time is money. A young couple buying an apartment starts off with bank financing, so you start paying off the mortgage in monthly payments when the foundations have not even been poured. It's the same story with the entrepreneur. The long process of building and selling apartments is about to get shorter, and that will make apartments cheaper.

"There are currently a million lessees, for no reason at all. I'll prove that the correct thing to do is to transfer the land and the homes to them. Unlike my predecessors, who sat here for a little more than a year, I want to remain at this post for a few years, in hopes that I can influence this sector. The most important step that a young couple takes when they establish a family, and one that affects every aspect of their lives, is the commitment to buy a home."

Is lowering real estate prices one of your goals?

"Certainly. I am working hard for this, and I believe that if we act correctly on a number of different levels, prices will change."

What sort of change? Is cutting prices by 20% within three years the goal?

"I couldn't say, and it would be pretentious of me to try to do so. I can't say that I want prices to be such-and-such in another so-and-so number of years, but one thing is for sure - prices will not be like they are today, because the main thing that will change is that supply will be much greater. Everyone is saying how wonderful it is that Israel has not been caught up in the real estate bubble, and that the market is strong. I say that is not true. It's a game of supply and demand. There has been no market, so there is no cause to boast."