Housing purchase index rises

At the same time, average salaries rose by 0.4% to NIS 7,559 and unemployment rates remained stable at 8.3%.

By SHARON WROBEL
Bank Mishkan's housing purchase index went up 1.9 percent to 147 points during the month of January compared with the previous month, as house prices and mortgage interest rates fell. According to the index, which consists of four economic parameters published by the Bank of Israel and the Central Bureau of Statistics each month, housing prices fell by 0.8%, while mortgage interest rates were down by 0.08 percentage points. At the same time, average salaries rose by 0.4% to NIS 7,559 and unemployment rates remained stable at 8.3%.