On November 28, 2019, the Gazit-Globe Real Estate Institute hosted the inter-ministerial steering committee for the improvement of the real estate market database – the Government Real Estate Forum – at IDC Herzliya. Established by virtue of Government Decision No. 10374, its aim is to improve the real estate database available to the public. It was tasked with finding ways to improve the information available on various government databases relating to the real estate market, and to make it accessible to the general public and to those playing a role in the real estate market.
Prof. Amnon Lehavi, dean of the Harry Radzyner Law School and academic director of the Gazit-Globe Real Estate Institute at IDC Herzliya, praised the committee members for their important endeavors and said that the Gazit-Globe Real Estate Institute was pleased to be working closely with the Survey of Israel and to be hosting the committee meeting at IDC Herzliya for the second time.
Ronen Regev, director-general of the Survey of Israel, commented on the importance of data and research in the real estate market: “The challenge still lies ahead, because decision-makers have not yet understood the significance of the data available to them. We know how important research is in the real estate market, and the next leap forward will be when decision-makers use the information on a regular basis in government decision-making processes.” Regev added that “the purpose of the committee is to create an integrated system of academia, companies, government, municipalities and the public so that the real estate market will be smarter and more sophisticated.”
Prof. Yaron Felus, chief scientist of the Survey of Israel, emphasized the importance of information in improving the real estate market by reducing market uncertainty and strengthening government coordination to shorten timelines. Prof. Felus reviewed the innovations and improvements that have been introduced to the government map server, which was opened to the public in January 2018 to serve as a key tool for cooperation and the sharing of information between the bodies involved in Israeli real estate. According to him, a key insight from the creation of a smart market is that access to information enables better coordination between all parties and is expected to save the economy half a billion shekels a year.
Yosef Sagi of the Survey of Israel presented a new feature of the government map server, "What’s in the Area,” which is open to the public and provides extensive information regarding educational institutions, gardens and parks, services, trade, transportation, demographics, and environmental indices in the neighborhood.
Yovav Sanders of the Survey of Israel noted that many discussions in the Knesset indicated a lack of transparency on rental data in the market, which makes it difficult to make regulatory decisions. In order to deal with this lack of transparency, it was decided to create a unified database for the rental market for the benefit of decision-makers in the Israeli government. The collection of data began in 2017, and to date approximately 400,000 rental properties have been registered in the government database.
Ira Diamandi, head of the Economic Analysis Department at the Ministry of Construction and Housing, gave a review of the trends in the Israeli housing market and construction industry, saying: “The last decade of major price increases is unprecedented because there was apparently no significant change in the population, along with the impact of the low interest rates during this period.” With regards to the rental market, she noted: “Rental prices have risen moderately compared to the cost of buying apartments, and since 2009 the link between changes in apartment prices and changes in rental prices has weakened significantly.” An examination of the data in the housing and rental market shows that despite the rise in prices and the cost of housing, rental housing has become more comfortable for households, so the situation of those who rent has improved significantly.
In conclusion, she discussed the government's policy, which focuses mainly on the demand side and is reflected in the number of apartment purchases, including as part of the “price per occupant” (Mehir LaMishtaken) program. On the other hand, when it comes to supply, there has been a decline in new construction in almost all districts, with the exception of Tel Aviv. As a result, there is excess supply in the periphery and a gap in construction in Tel Aviv in light of the increase in the number of households moving to the city.
Daniela Paz Erez, founder and owner of Paz Economy and Engineering, presented the urban planning vision required in light of the complex planning reality of today’s real estate market. She said that urban planning should take into account the needs of all those involved in planning: authorities, institutions, developers and the public. The design should maximize planning quality and minimize the direct and indirect cost of the plan to all parties affected. The plan should also take into account a set of economic, environmental and social performance metrics throughout the planning stages.
She went on to say that at the planning stage, which is indeed the most important stage, there are almost no technological tools that show the future picture to the decision-makers. This fact does not allow planners and decision-makers to understand the implications of their decisions at the planning stage. In the absence of advanced analytical tools, the design relies on the intuition and experience of those involved in the industry. “The Urban Dashboard” is a system in its development stages designed to support decision-making in urban planning. The system enables a multivariate analysis of an architectural plan in each of the planning stages based on economic, transportation, and environmental performance metrics. The system will improve the quality of planning and decision-making by enabling access to and analysis of a great deal of information throughout the planning stages.
Finally, Dr. Ronit Levine-Schnur of IDC Herzliya’s Harry Radzyner Law School and the Gazit-Globe Real Estate Institute presented the main methodologies used in research on real estate regulation and emphasized the importance of making information accessible to academics.
For more information on the activities of the inter-ministerial steering committee for the improvement of the real estate market database:
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