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 Israel's housing prices are relatively high, and seemingly tend to continue rising, the situation with the housing crisis and the tent protests increasing in intensity appear to be pressuring the government to actually implement a real solution that will add tens of thousands of apartments to the map around Israel and bring down the prices.

One would say that it is almost definitely peaking out right now, and we can probably expect prices to soon begin dropping, as massive construction will soon begin. In other words, now is not the time to begin investing in real estate.

That would be what most people would say. But Rav Chaim Kanievsky is not "most people".

The haredi magazine "B'Shaa Tova" is reporting that an avreich who has been looking to buy a home but has been stymied by the high prices went to rav Chaim Kanievsky for advice. he asked if he should continue looking or if he should wait as perhaps the protests will soon bring down prices?

Rav Kanievsky responded that he should not wait but should continue looking and buy the apartment when he finds it. Rav Kanievsky said, reportedly, that the protests will not help, in Eretz Yisrael the prices will not go down.

Rav Kanievsky believes in the Israeli real estate industry! Buy now, as prices will continue to rise!

The tent protest is spreading. It started off small, protesting the high real estate prices, and has gained momentum as different groups have joined and offered their support.

Tents are sprouting up now all over the country, from Kiryat Shmona down to Beer Sheva, in protest of high real estate, in protest of the difficulty in buying a home, reasonable mortgages, etc.

Being that we are now in the summer and the beggining of the popular camping season in Israel, I am not sure how they know this is a protest of some sort and not just a bunch of people camping out on vacation.

Bet Shemesh residents - hold on to your property.

De Marker's weekend magazine had a piece on the up and coming real estate markets in Israel. De Marker is the leading financial paper in Israel. De Marker found the three top locations and called them the thee top cities in Israel's future. Hold on to your hats - the three cities are Yavne, Hadera and Bet Shemesh.

De Marker found that real estate prices in these three cities are still reasonable, they are located near major regions, and with improved train systems to each of them it is easy and quick to get to the center of the country for work purposes.

Despite attempts to drive prices downward so as to help young couple be able to afford apartments, if Bet Shemesh (and the others) really becomes one of the most desirable cities in the country, you can bet your bottom dollar that prices will continue to rise.

Mayor Moshe Abutbol said that the city is planning for the major growth that Bet Shemesh is about to go through. They are planning by building new city infrastructure, hastening the repaving of the main highways - 38 and 10,  growing the Industrial areas at the edges of the city, educational institutions, a huge conference center is being built at an investment of 32 million shekels, attempts to get a hospital built, along with other projects. Abutbol called on the national government to also recognize the awesome growth and recognize the new reality in the area of Bet Shemesh as the city of the future and plan [and fund] accordingly.

Osama Bin Laden's father lived in Jerusalem, in the Shuafat neighborhood, in the '40s. He came from Saudi Arabia and bought a house in the exclusive neighborhood of Shuafat, and lived there on and off. In the '60s, Osama supposedly came to Israel a number of times, in what was then part of Jordan, and stayed in his fathers house.

In this video interview to BizPortal discussing real estate values decreasing based on the Housing and Construction Ministers plans to release lands and build apartments, Tamir Dagan, director of Shikun U'Binuy Nadlan says that in his opinion building 2000 apartments in bet Shemesh will have no real affect on the real estate market and will not bring down prices.

It might help, he says, slow down slightly the price increase, but he says overall 2000 apartments in the Israeli periphery will not affect the general market.

Being that even in the peripheral city of Bet Shemesh there is an unusual demand (unusual for a peripheral city) for apartments, I would venture to say it will not even bring down prices of the local market. 2000 apartments is just not enough to make a serious enough dent in the demand. Sure, they might sell cheap apartments, but they will not be cheap because of real estate values, but because they will be building lower end apartments - small, lower quality, etc.

I am no expert in the real estate market, but that is how it looks to me. What do you think?

Ever hear the stories of the guys selling homes or development land "in Florida"? They double or triple sell the same piece of property, if any property even exists, while they make millions off the backs of their victims?

Probably most communities have a couple of these guys. we had some in Chicago when I was growing up. One of them, I found out later, was the father of a good friend. I found out well after I was in Israel and out of contact with my friend. These guys eventually get caught, though this guy i think sat in jail for a bit, then was "wanted" again but escaped to Israel before he could be picked up./ I heard that his son, the guy I was friends growing up with, had been "in the business" with his father, and while his father escaped to Israel, the son took the fall and was convicted to a 5 year jail sentence.

We now have the Israeli version of this scam. The news is reporting that a group of "Real Estate investors" is being hunted down for conning people, generally Russian immigrants, into buying development land and home projects that turns out to be in Palestinian territory.

These are properties that do not exist, and obviously are not owned (even when they do exist) by these investors.

I guess this is a Jewish scam. No matter where you go there is a jewish guy running this type of a scam.

I am just surprised the "property" they are selling is in the PA territories and not in Florida!

According to this news report, The most lucrative real estate deal in Bet Shemesh history, and specifically in haredi RBS, was conducted today.

The report says a Canadian millionaire spent $2,000,000 on a 450 sq.m. house in RBS. This purchase was an upgrade from what he lived in previously - only 250 sq.m. worth $650,000