Sales slowdown in White City Residence

The Bruner Brothers, Eurocom and ZMH Hammerman sold in the second quarter of 2011 just nine apartments in the White City Residence tower.Compared to the 105 homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 this represents a significant slowdown. Since the project has about 170 apartments, a possible reason for that sharp decline in sales could well be that the inventory is running out and that almost all the apartments are now sold. According to a source with the developer, 85% of the apartments available for sale have now been sold. Local authorities recently approved the addition of 10 floors which will bring the total number of floors to 40. Those extra floors have not been put on the market yet however.

The Bruner Brothers from Belgium own 50% of the project, Eurocom and ZMH Hammerman holding the remaining 25% each. The apartments sold in the second quarter fetched 15% more on average than those of the first quarter, but it would be wrong to draw overall market conclusions based on those transactions since those properties being on higher floors, they would have commended higher prices anyway.

Source News1

Heads I win, Tails You Lose

The Knesset plenum today passed the National Housing Committees Law, the "supertanker" that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a few months ago. The vote was 57 in favor and 45 against.

The law is intended to expedite the construction of 50,000 housing units within 18 months, bypassing the local and regional planning and building commissions, in order to lower home prices. Currently, a housing project can take five years in the planning process before construction begins.

The tent protesters called for the National Housing Committees Law to be withdrawn before the vote, on the grounds that the beneficiaries will be the developers. They argue that the law sets out no mechanism for lowering prices for land or apartments. Environmental organizations have also criticized the bill on the grounds that fast-track planning of such a large number of homes will damage the environment.

Protesters demonstrated outside the Knesset today. The police arrested four demonstrators. Students and tent protesters are threatening to block key urban intersections during the day.

Source Globes