Israel Matzav

Awesome: Obama causing housing boom in Judea and Samaria

National Public Radio reports that real estate construction and sales are in a frenzy in Judea and Samaria as people seek to move to Judea and Samaria before the Obama administration forces the Netanyahu government to implement a 'freeze.'

Real estate agent Ayalon Cohen says he is selling six to 10 units a month, comparable to the fastest-growing towns in Israel. Talk of a settlement freeze, it seems, is good for business.

"There's a lot of demand. A young couple that wants to buy in Jerusalem cannot afford to do so," Cohen says.

Before Obama's statements, a three-bedroom apartment in Maale Adumim sold for $215,000. Now, the price has jumped to $244,000.

Even with the price increase brought on by the uncertainty over future settlement construction, both the cost of buying and the cost of living are lower here than in many Israeli cities.

Netanyahu is fond of defending "natural growth" in the settlements — that is, growing families needing more living space. But official Israeli statistics show that 4 in every 10 people who move into a settlement do so for economic, not family, reasons.

It used to be that prices across the green line were much lower than they were within the 1949 armistice lines. People were afraid that they would be expelled from their homes (as the residents in Gush Katif, and of Sa-Nur and Chomesh in northern Samaria, eventually were). There were rumors here as far back as 1988 that the government was hiding a provision in purchase agreements for new homes in Judea and Samaria saying that if you were expelled from your home you would not be compensated (I've never actually seen such a provision, and living in Jerusalem - albeit over the green line - I was never asked to sign one).

But as you can see in that article, those prices are not cheap - especially for an outlying area. In fact, the prices in the 'settlement blocs' are only slightly lower than the those in the country's center (except in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where prices have been driven up by foreign investors). For example, the prices quoted for Maaleh Adumim are about the same as the prices in Beit Shemesh, a city full of Anglos (which raises prices) between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv where I am currently working on an apartment sale.

Obama has done a lot to unify Israel. He's also doing a lot to increase the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria. Thanks Barry! And thanks to your friends too!

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:35 PM