The banks, courtesy of the Bank of Israel and sponsored by the global crisis, have simply given more and more rope, to leave all the players on the field, and to continue to let low supply dominate high demand. The message is clear: You don’t have money? The bank will give you another loan. Your salary is too low? We’ll spread the mortgage over 35 years. On your way out at the ATM you can even withdraw another NIS 50,000 for your summer vacation abroad or to upgrade your car. NIS 1.675 billion was loaned in May at a level of financing of over 60% of the value of properties. Only NIS 98 million was lent in May on homes where the mortgage was worth less than 10% of the value of the property.
While everyone was railing against the tycoons being blinded by cheap money, the broader public continued streaming to apartment fairs and thanking mortgage bank clerks for helping them to buy an apartment in Ramat Gan with a minimal salary and without a rich grandmother.
The bank’s artificial oxygen
Fischer, even though the horses have long bolted from the stable, knows that he must stop the stampede (recent signs have indicated that home price rises have resumed). Without the artificial oxygen of the banks, the public would need to come armed only with their own personal wallet to apartment fairs, and finally adapt their search to their purchasing power.
Gradually, after a difficult period of adjustment for both buyers and sellers we would discover that life is more beautiful without the false messiah of the banks.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com