Real estate in the shadow of the Qassams

The first Grad missile that fell on Ashkelon scored a direct hit on the real estate sector. Deals that were about to be signed were stalled, and buyers who did agree to continue negotiations demanded 10% price reductions.

"Since the rockets began falling, a number of clients have called me, asking if they should move forward with deals," says Avigail Biton, a real estate appraiser in the South. "I told them, quite frankly, that now is not the time to invest. Why put their hard-earned money into something that is uncertain?"

There is a fundamental conflict between the real estate market - which symbolizes calm, stability and faith in an unruffled future - and war and shelling. The Second Lebanon War paralyzed the real estate market in Haifa and the North, and not surprisingly, the real estate market in the range of the Qassams and Grads has practically ground to a halt since the recent escalation of attacks from the Gaza Strip.
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Amnon Gelula, of Bayit Vegan Realty in Ashkelon, has had several important deals postponed. A group of investors from Britain, who wanted to buy land near the beach and build vacation apartments, decided at the last minute to keep their money in their wallets.