Just the Facts: The high cost of housing

By EITAN BLUER
One of the most significant expenditures per household in the country’s major cities is the expense of housing.
The average Jerusalem household spent about NIS 3,650 monthly on housing in 2011; this amount constituted about 28 percent of all household expenses. The percentage of expenditures that went toward housing in Jerusalem was higher than the national average (in which 25% of total household expenditures were for housing) and that of Haifa (22%), but lower than the figure for Tel Aviv (31%).
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in expenditures for housing. In the last five years, housing costs for Jerusalem households increased by 44%, from an average of NIS 2,537 per month in 2006 to NIS 3,648 per month in 2011.
The rate of increase in Jerusalem (44%) was lower than the figure for the country as a whole (where housing expenditures rose by 47% during the same period) and higher than the figures for Tel Aviv (41%) and Haifa (36%).
The supply of apartments, as well as their size and number of rooms, also affects the expense of housing for renters. In 2011, the average monthly cost of renting an apartment in Jerusalem was NIS 2,613 for a 2.9-room apartment. That is, the average cost per room was NIS 901 per month. This price is higher than the national average (NIS 837 per room), Haifa (NIS 626) and Beersheba (NIS 380), but lower than the figure for Tel Aviv (NIS 1,420), Ramat Gan (NIS 1,120) and Rishon Lezion (NIS 985).
An examination of the average cost per room as valued for homeowners’ apartments reveals the discrepancy in pricing between cities in the Center of the country and those in the periphery. The average value of an apartment in Jerusalem for the homeowner in 2011 was NIS 1.727 million for an apartment with an average of 3.9 rooms (NIS 442,820 per room).
The cost per average room in Jerusalem was higher than the figure for the country as a whole (NIS 345,365 per room), Haifa (NIS 293,846), Beersheba (NIS 205,609) and Rishon Lezion (NIS 379, 047), yet lower than the figure for Ramat Gan (NIS 532,571) and Tel Aviv (NIS 647,297).
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