Bank of Israel Reports Mortgage Volume Reaching 8.66 Billion NIS

Despite the Tishrei holiday season slowing down overall lending volumes, the Israeli public took out 8.66 billion NIS in mortgages last month. According to a partial review released by the Bank of Israel, this figure demonstrates robust ongoing activity in the housing credit market.

Holiday Impact and Rising Averages

Mortgage volumes in September decreased by approximately 20% compared to August, largely due to the numerous holidays and resulting vacation days. However, compared to April, which also featured heavy holiday disruptions, the mortgage volume was roughly 9% higher. The Association of Mortgage Consultants noted that multi-purpose loans rose to 4.9% of total performance.

"The cumulative picture from the beginning of the year continues to reflect a strong credit market, with a continuous increase in the average loan amount: total housing performance stands at 88.3 billion shekels (and 93.3 billion shekels including multi-purpose loans), representing a 12% increase compared to the same period last year," write representatives of the Association of Mortgage Consultants.

Developer Financing and Future Projections

The gap between an active credit market and weakness in new real estate transactions continues to highlight the maturation of past contractor financing deals into actual mortgages. Meanwhile, the share of deferred loans such as balloon and bullet payments continued a very slow decline, reaching about 13% of all mortgages last month. October data is expected to surge as delayed applications from September are processed.