Published May 14, 2023 by Norman Shapiro

Mortgage application formWelcome to the weekly update from First Israel mortgages, for the week that starts in Israel on Sunday May 14, 2023.

There are some key national and religious dates coming up. Whilst there is a sigh of relief, especially amongst the population in the south of the country, that the 5-day conflict with Islamic Jihad appears to have come to a close.

Next week sees an update from the Bank of Israel on interest rates, on Monday May 22, 2023. And, later on that week is the Jewish festival of Shavuot.

Below is our weekly update, if you want to jump to a section, click here:

Mortgage market brief:

Israel Real Estate News

5 top mortgage tips

Here is your latest mortgage news…

Mortgage market brief:

Mortgage Rates mixed: 30 year fixed ⬌; 4.75-5.25%, 10 year fixed ⬇; 4.90 – 5.40%

Interest Rates mixed: 5 yr NIS⬇3.54%, 3 month US$ ⬆5.07%

FOREX/NIS: USD; 3.65, EUR; 3.97, GBP; 4.55

Prime Mortgage Rate: 6.00%

Israel Real Estate News

New homes sales in Israel rose in March (Globes)

April Mortgage Taking Lowest Since 2019 (Globes)

Apartments Sold & Rented (Globes)

Israel’s priciest penthouse offered for the price of 128 million shekels (Jerusalem Post)

5 top mortgage tips

– Israeli residents are able to obtain up to 75% financing, while non-Israelis are generally limited to 50%. There are exceptions for both.

– Mortgages can be processed entirely without ever being in Israel.

– The minimum income requirement to qualify for a mortgage is 2.5 times estimated monthly mortgage payments.

– Banks will accept a first relative to co-sign on a mortgage and calculate the co-signer’s income towards eligibility.

– As long as the income is properly documented, foreign income is fully acceptable.

Further reading: Funding Requirements (Part 4 of the Israel Mortgage primer series).