Capital: Jerusalem
Language(s): Hebrew, Arabic
Population: 7,282,400
Total Area: 22,145 km²
GDP (in million USD): 201,254
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a parliamentary democracy in the Middle East, on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
House prices and property demand are rising in Israel, fuelled by better-than-expected economic growth. During the year to end-Q3 2012, the average price of owner-occupied dwellings in Israel rose by 2.56% to ILS1,132,000 (US$299,086), after a year-on-year (y-o-y) rise of just 1.11% in Q2, and a decline of 1.56% in Q1 2012, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). When adjusted for inflation, house prices are up by 0.79% y-o-y to Q3 2012.
On a quarterly basis, nationwide house prices increased by 0.17% in Q3 2012, but were down by 0.4% when adjusted for inflation. Israel's economy expanded 2.9% y-o-y in the third quarter of 2012, fuelled by rising private consumption and exports. The BOI has revised its 2012 growth projections to 3.3%, from 3.1%. The CBS is even more optimistic, forecasting GDP growth for 2012 of 3.5%.