Oct 15, 2017
notice to guests from abroad..
this is one of a couple interesting pashkevilim that were posted/pasted on the walls of Jerusalem over the holiday period...
while they definitely have a good point and valid concern about foreigners buying up property while not living there and causing prices to increase, making it difficult for locals to afford housing in Jerusalem, I am not quite sure what can be done about it. The local government increased taxes for "ghost" houses, and that seems to not have helped. The wealthy will continue to buy the real estate as much as they can and want to. Just this Shabbos someone in Jerusalem told me how they had lived in a specific rental apartment for 17 years, and the owner decided a few years ago to sell, but he was asking a very high price and no buyers were biting. Recently, a wealthy person bought it without even looking at it as he has bought a number of apartments around Jerusalem for his children and grandchildren and paying a little too much does not bother him. This will continue to happen, as will people buying apartments for investments and people buying apartments so they can have a home in Jerusalem for when they want to visit.
while they definitely have a good point and valid concern about foreigners buying up property while not living there and causing prices to increase, making it difficult for locals to afford housing in Jerusalem, I am not quite sure what can be done about it. The local government increased taxes for "ghost" houses, and that seems to not have helped. The wealthy will continue to buy the real estate as much as they can and want to. Just this Shabbos someone in Jerusalem told me how they had lived in a specific rental apartment for 17 years, and the owner decided a few years ago to sell, but he was asking a very high price and no buyers were biting. Recently, a wealthy person bought it without even looking at it as he has bought a number of apartments around Jerusalem for his children and grandchildren and paying a little too much does not bother him. This will continue to happen, as will people buying apartments for investments and people buying apartments so they can have a home in Jerusalem for when they want to visit.
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I remember a few years ago, charedim tried a rent control system by and for charedim in charedi areas of yerushalayim. Of course, they claimed it was to be run by the RY and "gedolim".
ReplyDeleteThey had to drop the proposal cause they claimed this would hurt the poor homeowner who scrimped and saved to buy an apartment for her children when they marry, and in the meantime trying to earn some money to pay off the mashkanta mortgage on the apartment (or two).
Of course, the real reason are those who own such apartments, not real estate moguls, but regular people, who own one or two or three apartments, doesn't make one an evil person. Maybe a mechanech or RY or similar.