End of Summer - Hot and Slow - Economy Heats Up

Birds getting the last seeds of summer. In September and November bird migrating from Europe to Africa will give these birds less of a selection. Park in Tel Aviv / © 2009

Summer is at it's end. In Israel it is a quiet time. Kids are shopping for school supplies. Families are taking their last vacation, there is one full week for summer vacation (called here Ha'chofesh Ha'gadol - literally 'the big vacation'). The peak hot days of mid-August are over with. The tourists have mostly left so 'the natives' are out in bars and cafes. You can go back to sleeping with the windows open. If you plan to come to Tel Aviv in the summer this is probably the best time. There is still plenty of good beach days, now that mid-day peak temperature are bearable. So if you were thinking of coming for a visit, do so now.

The 'Sabres' is the Israeli cactus plant which inspired the name Sabra. Sabra was a title given to Israeli born children by the generation which immigrated from Europe and the middle east countries. The name was given because the sabres fruit is prickly on the outside and sweet on the inside. This was the type of personality a first generation born Israeli apparently exhibited. Roadside farm, near Tel Ha'shomer hospital complex / © 2009

Now for the economy. Do you remember the Clinton campaign slogan: it's the economy, stupid? In Israel now this seems to be the case. The Netanyahu administration seems to be completely ignoring other things. Rightly so. The Israeli economy did not heat up the last ten years like other world economies. Locally there was the Lebanon war, than the Hamas take over in Gaza. Economically the Israeli Real Estate market never had the bump up from increase credit. There was never an increase credit here, the banks are too conservatives for that. Israel also did not suffer the sub-prime crash and then financial crisis which followed. But we kind of feel that the market should be going up now. Which is quietly happening, but without international news coverage. Israel economy is too small to make the news. Also, people expect news of Israel to be either something with the Palestinians or a high tech genius making it good in silicon valley. The Shekel is up and not going down. Stanley Fischer's attempt at holding back the shekel's rise with $10 million per day purchase of US dollars has finally been declared a silly attempt at controlling the Israeli shekel's exchange rate. People are spending more overseas and buying dollars and euros. Inflation is up in real terms. In Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas property values are going up slightly. Rental prices go up first, they are more flexible. Home prices are holding flat but rumors of higher demand and inflation in building supplies and builder's salaries are starting to worry buyers. In addition, since Israeli real estate prices have not gone down and are expected to go up, builders and Realtors are pitching to foreign investors. Everyone is hoping to get a piece of the foreign pie, even if it is smaller now. There is also a slight rise in interest form French and British Jews who see investment in Israel as a way to show solidarity for Israel and get a good return. Well, as the air temperature drops the economic temperature raises. If you do not plan to come fore vacation, come to invest. Jump right in, the water's fine!