Last month, mortgages were taken out in a volume that was 12% lower than that taken in July 2021. This is according to Bank of Israel data on mortgages published today. However, the monthly volumes remain higher than NIS 10 billion, and it is difficult to point to a downward trend.
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The volume of monthly mortgages taken out last month reached NIS 10.1 billion. Since June of last year, there have only been two months in which fewer mortgages were taken – in September 2021, when the Tishrei holidays fell, and in January of this year. In July 2021, mortgages totaling NIS 11.5 billion were taken out.
The data published by the Bank of Israel today are general data, without division and breakdown into sectors (these data will appear in about two weeks). In recent months, according to the Chief Economist at the Treasury and the CBS, the amount of transactions is significantly down compared to the record volumes recorded last year.
A significant part of this decrease is due to a large decrease in the volume of the purchase of investment apartments. However, the decrease in the volume of transactions was not accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the volume of mortgages. In addition, in recent months, mortgages were taken in significantly higher volumes than the volumes in the corresponding months.
In light of this, it is not yet possible to point to a downward trend, although it is likely that in the future, given the increase in interest rates and rising inflation, it will also be reflected in the volume of mortgages.