Lyle Plocher is the Director of Buy Property In Israel and can be reached by email at lyle@buypropertyinisrael.com.For those olim deciding where to live in Israel or for those individuals
just looking for an opportunity to invest in an area that has upside
potential, perhaps a few of Israel’s coastal cities in the North, a bit
out of the limelight, bear investigation.
Not everyone who
loves living by the sea prefers the big city lights and all of the
hustle and bustle that go with it. For those who prefer a slightly
slower pace and less people, here are at least two communities that
don’t get much publicity, but have definite long term investment
potential and improving “quality of life” environments.
The city
of Hadera, which is just a few minutes north of Netanya is one example
of a city “on the rise”. Hadera’s Mayor, Haim Avitan, has orchestrated
the formation of an aggressive Master Plan which would see the current
population of 90,000 double by the year 2020. The Mayor pointed out
earlier this year that the geographical size of Hadera is actually
larger than Tel Aviv. The plans for future development include building
thousands of housing units along the beach, in Givat Olga and in new
neighborhoods, as well as hotels and a boardwalk. In a survey taken
recently by the accounting firm Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar, 33
percent of the senior Real Estate Agents in Israel thought that Hadera
was the best place to invest in residential real estate in the coming
year.
Thanks to great train service along Israel’s coastline,
someone living in Hadera could very easily work in Tel Aviv with the
commute time from Hadera to the train station next to the Azrieli Center
in Tel Aviv, being only 37 minutes.
Acre is another coastal city in the north of Israel which has caught the
eye of commercial real estate developers in Israel. Situated just north
of Haifa, Acre has a similar story to Hadera in that the incumbent
Mayor took over a city from a previous administration that lacked
vision. In Acre Mayor Shimon Lankri’s case, he took over a city that was
only collecting property taxes from less than 50% of its residents. The
Mayor has been on the job for nearly 8 years and in 2010, the city had a
budget surplus. According to Mayor Lankri, real estate developers
became attracted to Acre after a tremendous amount of infrastructure was
put in place, namely bridges, overpasses, new roads, infrastructure for
both new neighborhoods as well as existing ones, at an investment of
NIS 500 million. Recent commercial development has included new malls, a
European standard, 5,000 seat municipal football stadium and a few
hotels.
According to the Mayor, 42 factories have come to Acre in the last few
years and at the beginning of 2011, the unemployment rate had dropped
from a high of 17% seven years ago to 7.8%. In 2011, the plan was to
offer land for building 1000 apartments and future plans by the Coastal
Environment Protection Committee were being discussed to develop the
southern beaches of Acre with a marina, 1,500 apartments and 1,000 hotel
rooms. In early 2011, the population of Acre was approximately 55,000.
For assistance with property purchases in Israel, contact Lyle Plocher at lyle@buypropertyinisrael.com
Buy Property in Israel can assist you with all of your Israel Real Estate needs.