If the definition of the center and the periphery in Israel is measured by real estate prices, then Ashdod is no longer a periphery: the new border of the periphery in the south passes through Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat, due to the high price increase in the city.
The demand for housing in the city comes mainly from home improvement projects, growing families, or retirees who sold villas in southern cities and decided to move to Ashdod. Young couples, on the other hand, have become minor players, as high prices prevent them from considering their own apartment in the city.
""The housing crisis in Ashdod has not spared the Haredim either," a veteran Ashdod realtor tellsHaredim10. If until some time ago the "Hazardous" areas and the "Tama 38" areas in the city were potential destinations among young couples, now they are impossible destinations, except for individuals whose luck has improved.
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This reality makes it difficult for both investors and brokers: since apartment prices in the city have increased by an average of 81%, which has reduced the returns on real estate investments to only 41%-31%, brokers are prevented from making a decent living, without lending a hand in another profession.
Example prices: Prices for four-room apartments in the ultra-Orthodox 7th District range from 1.25 to 1.35 million shekels, and five-room apartments sell for 1.5-1.6 million shekels.
Apartment prices in a newer district, District 12, where an ultra-Orthodox community also lives, are even higher.
Prices for four-room apartments in this neighborhood range from 1.25 to 1.5 million shekels, and five-room apartments sell for 1.45–1.85 million shekels.
It should be noted that in the new district being built between the City District and District 11, prices for a four-room apartment start at 2.25 million shekels - a high price by any standard.
The result was not long in coming: data revealed yesterday by the economic website 'The Marker' places Ashdod in second place in the country in terms of negative immigration. Some 1,491 residents left the city during 2011 (after deducting residents who entered).
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