Bullish on Israeli Real Estate

I love to see articles like this. For all the Israelis buying up commercial and residential real estate here in New York, it is good to see that investors believe that Israeli real estate is a good investment, too.
____________________________________________________________________________________

"I’d jump into Israeli real estate with both feet"

CIBC’s Benjamin Tal: People understand the gap between how Israel looks on CNN and the real Israel.

Roy Meltzer 21 May 06 17:01

“I’d jump into Israeli real estate with both feet. I now see in it the same economic signs we saw in the US and UK a few years ago, and I think that the present situation is just the beginning of a recovery in Israel’s real estate market,” CIBC World Markets chief economist Benjamin (Benny) Tal told “Globes” in an exclusive interview.

Tal is in Israel to attend today’s CIBC conference with leading Israeli companies listed on Wall Street. His assessment is based on his perception of “economic developments that affect the real estate market. I’m talking about convenient interest rates, competition in the mortgage market, and the market’s inflexible demand. I read the exact same figures five years ago in other markets, which is why I believe that we’ll see an annual 10-15% increase in housing prices in Israel over the next five years.”

As a regular participant in international conferences, Tal says the people marketing Israel are doing good work. “I can tell you that Israel’s name now has a positive connotation as a good place to do business. People understand the gap between how Israel looks on CNN and the real Israel, so they invest here.

“In my opinion, what we’re seeing in Israel now is just the beginning of a positive economic period. The economic policies we’ve seen in recent years are driving this process forward, and I think that if these same economic policies are maintained in the coming years, we’ll see further rapid growth. The biggest risk I see at the moment to the Israeli economy is a possible slowdown in the US market, which could affect exports, as well as political factors that are hard to analyze.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 21, 2006

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2006