Pessah holiday pushes new home sales down 20%

11,018 homes were available for sale at the end of April, the lowest figure since the beginning of the year.

By GUY KATSOVITCH/GLOBES
Exterior of property 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Exterior of property 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
1,703 new homes were sold in April 2010, 20 percent fewer than in March, due to the Passover holiday, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported on Sunday. Demand for new homes totaled 2,939 in April (including homes for sale and homes not for sale), up from 2,834 homes in April 2010.
11,018 homes were available for sale at the end of April, the lowest figure since the beginning of the year. New home sales were 18% higher between January and April than in the corresponding months of 2010.
Inventory of new homes has exceeded the 11,000 threshold since January, its highest level since the 11,046 available housing units March 2009. The housing inventory fell by an average of 0.5% per month between January and April.
4,531 of the new homes available for sale were in the Central District, 2,049 were in the Tel Aviv District, 1,568 were in the Southern District, and 1,537 were in the Jerusalem District.
The housing inventory is sufficient for 8.9 months at the current rate of sales.