With its political woes behind it, Har Homa is now a formidable real-estate neighborhood.
By JOHN BENZAQUENHar Homa 311(photo credit: REUTERS)
The newest neighborhood in Jerusalem, Har Homa is located in the southeastern part of the city, near the Arab town of Beit Sahur.Har Homa, also called Homat Shmuel, has a very controversial history and in 1997 starred in a special UN Security Council meeting condemning the building of the neighborhood.Har Homa was built on land that was annexed by Israel after the Six Day War.Israel disputes international claims that it is illegal to build on this land with regard to greater Jerusalem in general and with respect to Har Homa in particular because according to land records, 32 acres of the neighborhood’s land, which was then called Jabal Abu Ghneim, was purchased in the mid-1940s by a Jewish group for residential purposes.During the War of Independence in 1948, the area was used as a base by the forces sent by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to help the Palestinians in their fight against Israel. The land was turned over to the Arab Legion, and after the war, the Jordanian authorities planted a pine forest, which is still there today.The Construction and Housing Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality started planning an urban expansion in the area in the early 1980s. The first opposition to the plan came from local environmental groups who wanted to maintain the forested hill as a green area for the benefit of the residents of the capital.Opposition from Palestinian groups only materialized in the early 1990s after the cabinet authorized the expropriation of land for the purpose of building Har Homa. Residents of Beit Sahur, in conjunction with Israeli peace activists, campaigned the decision to no avail.The issue was dragged through the Israeli courts and construction work began in 1997, when the US vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions that called on Israel to stop construction work. Although the US was the only country of the 15 members on the council to vote against the resolution, it has made clear that it disapproves of Israeli building activities in Har Homa.The ministry and the municipality initially authorized the building of 2,500 residential units in the mid ’90s. One thousand more units were approved, and the master plan is for over 5,000 dwellings and 25,000 residents in total. Most of the residents of Har Homa today are young families that moved there in search of affordable housing.At first it was difficult to sell real estate in the area due to the political difficulties. Consequently, the prices were set at what for Jerusalem were very reasonable prices – a three-room modern, terraced apartment with parking and elevators was sold for NIS 700,000. The low prices attracted buyers, the semitaboo was broken and demand quickly rose.Today, the political issue is a thing of the past and Har Homa is seen just like any other outlying neighborhood of the capital. Prices are lower than in the more central neighborhoods, and it attracts those who want to live in Jerusalem but are looking for more affordable accommodations.Sima Ben-Hanoch, who is the manager of the Gilo Central real-estate brokerage firm and also markets properties in Har Homa, believes that demand in the area will increase. “Compared to most parts of Jerusalem, demand is satisfactory. Har Homa attracts young families, both secular and religious. The financial resources of young families are usually limited and Har Homa is good value for the money from a real-estate perspective. It is also attractive for young people because most of its residents are young families,” she says.Aharon Bass, the representative of the Anglo-Saxon Jerusalem rea-lestate brokerage firm in Har Homa and Gilo, believes that prices in Har Homa have a good chance of rising in the future.“The population of Har Homa is more or less evenly divided between secular and moderately religious, what in Israel are termed ‘national-religious’ or ‘Mizrahi.’ The number of ultra-Orthodox residents is very small. The relations between the first two groups are excellent but despite the fact that numerically they are equal, the religious element is more dominant, perhaps because when marketing began in earnest some seven years ago, young religious families were the first to buy and move in,” he says.The average price for a three-room apartment in Har Homa is NIS 1.1 million, for a four-room apartment NIS 1.3 million and for a five-room apartment NIS 1.6 million. A garden apartment can cost an extra 15 percent and a penthouse an extra 20%.Recent Transactions in Har Homa:
A five-room, 110 sq.m. apartment with a 300 sq.m. garden and two parking spaces, but no storeroom, sold for NIS 1.7 million.
A four-room, 90-sq.m. apartment on the second floor with two terraces, one of them suitable for a succa, sold for NIS 1.3m. The apartment has a 6-sq.m. storeroom and parking.
A three-room, 65-sq.m. apartment with a 4-sq.m. storeroom and parking sold for NIS 1.06m.
A four-room, 85-sq.m. apartment with an 80-sq.m. garden and an 85-sq.m. terrace sold for NIS 1.47m. The apartment, which is in a terraced building build on a slope, has as a ground-floor entrance.
A four-room, 87-sq.m. apartment on the third floor with a 6- sq.m. terrace, parking but no storeroom, sold for NIS 1.25m.
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