Wednesday, January 23, 2008

GTC in fourth China real estate project

The company and its partners will build a €95 million mixed residential and commercial project in Changzhou.

Global Trade Centre Real Estate NV (TASE:GTC) subsidiary GTC Real Estate China Ltd. and two partners have won a tender to buy a lot in the central Chinese city of Changzhou. This is GTC's fourth project in China; it is also operating in Chengdu, Shenyang, and xian.
GTC China and Lucky Hope Ltd. each own 45% of the project and a Hong Kong-based partner owns the other 10%. The companies bought the 104,000-square meter lot for €18.4 million. They plan to build a 290,000-square meter mixed residential and commercial project on the site at an estimated cost of €95 million. Construction is due to begin in 2009 and take three years.

Changzhou, in Jiagnsu Province, has 3.5 million residents.

GTC Real Estate fell 5.5% on the TASE today. It is a subsidiary of Kardan NV (TASE: KRNV;AEX:KARD).

Published by Globes [online] copyrights, Israel business news

Africa-Israel buys Yachin lot for NIS 86m

Michal Margalit 20 Jan 08 12:50

The lot is zoned for a 50,000-square meter commercial and office building, which can be doubled in size.

Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) subsidiary Africa-Israel Properties Ltd. (TASE: AFPR) has bought the Yachin lot in Petah Tikva for NIS 86 million.
The 20-dunam (five-acre) lot is occupied by the disused Yachin factory and is zoned for a 50,000-square meter 24-storey commercial and office building. The site has building rights to double the space to 100,000 square meters.

Published by Globes [online] copyrights, Israel business news

Apartments sold and rented

Ariel Rosenberg 20 Jan 08 14:45


Second-hand apartments sold

Tel Aviv and central region
Hod Hasharon: A 135-sq.m. five-room garden apartment on Ha'Odem St. was sold for $416,000. A 97-sq.m. renovated three-and-a-half-room apartment on Hage'ula St. was sold for NIS 810,000. A 130-sq.m. five-room rooftop apartment on Habanim St. was sold for $283,000. A 200-sq.m. penthouse on Ssaknai St. was sold for $485,000 (Re/MAX).


Modi'in: A 150-sq.m. five-room garden apartment on Nahal Tzofar St. was sold for NIS 1.28 million. A 125-sq.m. four-room apartment on Hativat Hatzanhanim St. was sold for NIS 950,000 (AMG).

Pardess Hanna-Karkur: A 160-sq.m. five-room duplex on Lemon St. was sold for $136,700. A 200-sq.m. six-room house on a 500-sq.m. lot Tlalim St. was sold for NIS 1.37 million (Anglo-Saxon).

Jerusalem and environs
Jerusalem: A 70-sq.m. three-room apartment in need of renovation on Brenner St., Talbiyeh, was sold for $380,000 (Ambassador). A 110-sq.m. four-room apartment in an Arab-style house on Hamagid St., German Colony, was sold for $590,000. A 163-sq.m. five-room penthouse on Leib Yaffe St., Arnona, was sold for $680,000 (Anglo-Saxon). A two-room apartment on Gordon St., Kiryat Hayovel, was sold for $152,000. A three-room apartment on Harav Fenijel, Neve Yaakov, was sold for $115,000 (Bank of Jerusalem). A 160-sq.m. six-room garden apartment on Hahayal St., French Hill, was sold for $305,000. A renovated 68-sq.m. three-room apartment on Golei Kenya St., French Hill, was sold for $210,000 (Re/MAX).

Haifa and the north
Haifa: A 75-sq.m. three-room apartment in need of renovation on Disraeli St., Ahuza, was sold for $165,000. A renovated 160-sq.m. six-and-a-half-room penthouse on Sinai St., Ahuza, was sold for $450,000. A 100-sq.m. four-room apartment on Yigal Allon St., Ramat Alon, was sold for $145,000 (Reshef Residential Properties).

Rentals
Tel Aviv and central region

Tel Aviv: A two-room apartment on Hakishon St. was leased for $650 a month. A two-room apartment on Ben Yehuda St. was leased for NIS 3,500 a month. A two-room apartment on on Ben Ezra St. was leased for $950 a month.

Haifa and the north
Haifa: A three-room apartment on Weizmann St. was leased for NIS 3,300 a month (Madas).

Published by Globes [online] copyrights, Israel business news

The question returns: rent or buy?

Ariel Rosenberg 20 Jan 08 14:51

The gap between property prices and rentals in Israel makes the eternal dilemma all the more pressing. So it better to buy or rent? "Globes" does the sums.
It's the cardinal question about Israeli real estate: buy or rent? In recent months, more and more people, especially those setting up home for the first time and young couples, feel that rising rentals coupled with easy mortgage terms have created a situation where monthly mortgage payments together the requisite equity have made buying an apartment more worthwhile. But is this really the case? It depends whom you ask and, no less importantly, where you make your inquiries.

Apartment purchase tax threshold raised to NIS 925,000

The purchase tax brackets have actually been lowered for second homes.

Hadas Magen 21 Jan 08 15:47

The new threshold on the purchase tax on apartments has been raised to NIS 925,000 from NIS 850,000. The other purchase tax brackets are unchanged from the previous adjustment: 3.5% on apartments costing up to NIS 1.3 million, and 5% on apartments costing more than this.
The purchase tax brackets have actually been lowered for second homes: 3.5% on apartments costing up to NIS 772,000, down from NIS 787,000; and 5% on apartments costing more than NIS 772,000.

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