Ramat HaSharon: An old duplex sold for more than 5 million shekels
The highest deal in the city for a second-hand apartment since the beginning of the year: a 4-room duplex on Naomi Street in Ramat HaSharon was sold at a price reflecting about 35–36 thousand shekels per square meter. The neighborhood is characterized by a gap between old and new apartments.
The deal: A 4-room duplex apartment on Naomi Street in Ramat HaSharon was sold for 5.16 million shekels. The apartment is 118 square meters in size and has an 82-square-meter balcony.
HaDar neighborhood
Located in the east of the city, east of the main longitudinal axis, Sokolov Street. It is based on the Ramat HaSharon master plan from 1971, which designated most of the neighborhood as "Residential C," meaning rights to build 3-story structures above a pillar floor, and at least 9 housing units. Most of the neighborhood was built in the seventies and eighties.
There are quite a few TAMA 38 projects in the area that rise to greater heights than the old plan allowed, and therefore there is also a market for new apartments in the HaDar neighborhood. The average prices for old apartments in the neighborhood hover around 30 thousand shekels per square meter, while the prices for new apartments are about 40 thousand shekels per square meter.
About the property
The building permit for the house was issued 25 years ago by the development company Meni Lushi Investment and Construction Company. Its construction was completed in 2003, so the building is not exactly old but certainly not new.
Out of 38 deals of more than 5 million shekels carried out in the city since the beginning of the year, only seven were for second-hand properties, and the most expensive of them is the duplex that was sold. This testifies to the high competition, in which second-hand apartments are at a certain disadvantage compared to new apartments, especially those not equipped with a MAMAD (protected space) and that have not undergone renovations to adapt them to the present day.
According to the original plan of the building and the registration in the Tabu (Land Registry), it is a 118-square-meter duplex apartment, which includes a living room and two bedrooms on the lower floor, and a large bedroom and an 82-square-meter balcony on the upper floor. A look at the history of the house shows that the current owners of the apartment purchased it 10 years ago for 3.16 million shekels.
Price analysis
The apartment price index rose by about 50% between the two purchases, while the price of the apartment rose by 63%. Measuring the price by equivalent square meter, which weights the balcony in the calculation, shows that the apartment was sold at a magnitude of 35 thousand shekels per square meter, right in the middle between the prices of new and old apartments in the HaDar area. In our estimation, this value is very logical, because although it is an old apartment, its specifications, and especially the MAMAD, meet most of the requirements of the third decade of the 21st century.
Appraiser Maor Berko notes: "Originally, the roof duplex apartments were built with a division of three rooms on the lower level and a 23-square-meter room with a large roof terrace on the upper level. In 2016, a specific permit was issued to expand the apartment on the roof floor, and today the apartment is divided according to the permit plan into a 3-room apartment on the lower level, 2 rooms on the upper level, and a total of 5 rooms in an area of 127 square meters, and a 46-square-meter roof terrace and balcony on the lower floor."
"An analysis of the sale deal shows that the equivalent square meter price in the apartment reaches about 36 thousand shekels. This is a reasonable value assuming the finish level of the apartment is good. The street is quiet and sought-after and is within walking distance to the city center, and the building is small with few residents, and the apartment has a MAMAD."
Market perspective
Real estate agent Tali Oren Ruben from the Mor Binyamin agency says: "Three duplexes in the same building were offered for sale at the same time. The price gaps are particularly large, considering that these are neighboring apartments: one of the duplexes is offered for sale for 4.5 million shekels, one for 5.95 million shekels, and the third, as mentioned, was sold for 5.16 million shekels."
Oren Ruben explains that one of the duplexes faces east and requires some renovation. Its basic disadvantage is that on the other side of the street, a TAMA 38/2 (evacuation-construction) project is about to be built that will raise a seven-story building, while the other two duplexes face west, and an open view is seen from them. Additionally, the duplex offered for sale at a particularly high price has undergone a very thorough renovation, which raises its price.
"The buyer did their homework and learned exactly what is happening in the environment in terms of deals and prices, and the price that the apartment owner and the seller reached is a very reasonable price for the market in the area," she says.
