MK Bezalel Smutrich came up with a reason for a no-confidence motion in the government submitted by his party, and attacked the prime minister, Naftali Bennett, precisely from the economic angle: “(He) creates a virtual reality for himself as if everything here is honey. The fuel does not go up, the water, the electricity, the food, nothing. “The peak, it was possible to understand from his words, concerns housing prices.” This has been the case since the establishment of the state. “The Knesset member asked and we responded.
First, what is the same 16% increase that Smutrich was talking about? This is a figure that rises from the housing price index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) once a month. This figure reflects a bi-monthly change in housing prices based on transactions made in previous months. Thus, for example, the index published about two weeks ago, during May, Made in February and March, and compares them to transactions made in January and February. These data do show that the annual increase in housing prices now amounts to 16.3% (the monthly increase was 1.9%), as Smutrich noted. Are defined by the CBS as “temporary”, and are expected to be updated later).
So Smutrich is accurate about the current data but what about the historical comparison? The MK qualified his remarks by saying that it is possible that a higher rate of increase was recorded “in the inflation of the 1980s”, but in any case we only went back to 1995, in accordance with the data limit presented by the CBS. What did we find out there? We will save you the stress and we will already note that the data show that in the past no less than 20 indices were recorded that presented a figure higher than an annual increase of 16.3%. These are concentrated in two periods: between the years 1995-1996 and between the years 2009-2010.
The increases in the first period are attributed to the great wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, which increased the demand for apartments at the same time. Thus, in early 1995, for example, there was an annual increase of 19.7% in the housing price index. Subsequently, the index data moderated slightly, but after that there were again increases to a peak of 21.4% in the May-June 1996 index. In total, there were nine indices in this period that were higher than 16.3%.
The increases in the second period, not long before the outbreak of the “social protest”, were mainly related to the dramatic reduction in interest rates by the Bank of Israel at the time, against the background of a similar trend in the world and the global economic crisis that erupted in 2008. A study conducted by the Bank of Israel on the period showed that lowering the interest rate explains 43% of the price increases then, while the shortage of apartments explains 37% of it. At the peak of the period, in the index that referred to housing prices in the year between March 2009 and March 2010, there was an increase of 21%. In total during these two there were 11 indices that presented higher data than the current figure.
We turned to MK Smutrich and he told us this (the parentheses and the three points originally): “Thank you Globes for the work. I found a faster way than the MMM to get the data I needed for my public work … (of course I reserved things, and said I did not check, and maybe there was, so I invited them to check …) “.
Bottom line: Smutrich’s remarks are incorrect. The annual increase in housing prices, which now stands at about 16% according to CBS data, is not a precedent in the country’s history. Between 1995 and 1996, nine higher indices were recorded, and between 2009 and 2010, 11 higher indices were recorded.
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There: Bezalel Smutrich
party: Religious Zionism
Place of publication: The Knesset Plenum
date: 30.5
a quote: “[מחירי הדיור עלו] At 16%, there was not [דבר כזה] Since the establishment of the state “
Grade: Not true
One of the main issues for which criticism of the government is expressed is the wave of price increases. When MK Bezalel Smutrich took the plenum to explain the government’s no-confidence motion, he Mentioned The general rise in prices, when he noted, among other things, the price increases of “water, electricity, food.” A particular exception, according to Smutrich, is the rise in apartment prices: “[מחירי] Housing rose by 16%, was not [מצב] Such since the establishment of the stateAlthough Smutrich objected to the determination of this statement and mentioned that it is possible that during the inflation period of the 1980s there were no less high increases, but to be on the safe side, he asked: “Let me do a test in Globes.” So we agreed to the request.
The measure that Smutrich refers to is Housing Price Index (Do not confuse with the housing index that measures the cost of housing services) published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The index is published once a month and shows a bi-monthly change in housing prices based on transactions made in three months. Carried out in the months of May-June compared to April-May.
Back to Smutrich. about two weeks ago Posted The index for the months of February-March – and from it shows that the annual increase of the index amounted to 16.3% (the monthly increase was 1.9%), as Smutrich noted. Here it is important to bring the CBS reservation that the index for this period (as well as the index for the previous two periods) is temporary and is expected to be updated later. But for now, Smutrich correctly quoted the present figure. But is he right about the past?
It appears on the CBS website file With data from the housing price index starting in 1994. A review of the data in the file shows that 20 times were recorded in which the index was higher than its current level. These are concentrated in two main periods: between the years 1995-1996 and between the years 2009-2010.
As is well known, in the 1990s, a large wave of immigrants (close to 900,000 immigrants) arrived in Israel from the Soviet Union – which increased the demand for apartments. This fact is attributed to the increase in prices observed in data from the period. Thus, at the beginning of 1995 the annual increase of the index was 19.7%. Although it moderated slightly later, it then rose again – to a peak of 21.4% in the May-June 1996 index. goddess.
The next period in which higher increases than the current increase were recorded is October 2009 (16.6%). In February-March 2010 it even reached 21%, but in the following months the rise in prices moderated. as per Working Held in the Research Division of the Bank of Israel by Weizmann Nagar and Guy Segal, the main reason for the price increases during this period is the reduction of the monetary interest rate (the interest rate set by the Bank of Israel) against the background of the global crisis. The reduction in the monetary interest rate, according to the study, explains 43% of the rise in prices during this period. Another factor that is found to affect apartment prices is the shortage of apartments (explains 37% of the rise in prices).
MK Bezalel Smutrich said: “Thank you Globes for the work. I found a faster way than the MMM to get the data I needed for my public work … (of course I reserved the things and said I did not check and maybe there was so I invited them to check …) “
In conclusionContrary to Smutrich’s statements, there have been 20 times in the past when the annual rate of increase in the housing price index was higher than the current figure (which stands at 16.3%). These times are concentrated in two periods: in the years 1995-1996 and in the years 2009-2010. Therefore Smutrich’s statements are incorrect.
debriefing: Yuval Inhorn