Overpriced, Overpayed, Overvalued

A European citizen has paid a whopping $25,000/sq. meter for a total of USD $9,000,000 to own an apartment in the Jerusalem ghost town of Mamilla.

The Mamilla project is currently being expanded by another 38 apartments due to the demand by American and European holiday visitors for a home in that neighborhood.

The Mamilla complex is generally empty for most of the year as home owners only vist for a week or two during the various holiday seasons - when they don't stay at a hotel instead.

Asking/Selling prices in the existing Mamilla complex are known to have reached only as high as USD $10,000/sq. meter (though rumor has it one homeowner is asking as high as $15,000).

Talk about being taken.

One Night in Bangkok

Africa-Israel is buying a Bangkok residential high-rise (nearing completion) for some $50 million dollars.

A Groisa Metzia

Lev Leviav, mentioned earlier this week after his purchase of the New York Times building, just completed a $1.4 Billion dollar IPO making his company Africa-Israel the 5th largest real estate firm in Europe.

The company is now valued at $7.3 Billion dollars.

It was also the largest ever IPO by an Israeli company.

Leviev initially purchased Africa-Israel for just somewhere in the range of $250-$500 million.

Big in Israel

Jacky Ben-Zaken and Avraham Nanikashvilli bought the Kanyon Hasharon (Mall) for NIS 344 million. The deal was mediated by Roni Maanah - Israel's latest commercial property wunderkind. Roni did some big deals recently with Arkadi Gedaymak and Yeshayahu Boymelgreen.

Doing Tshuva

It's to early in the season to be doing Tshuva, but Itsik just sold 16,000 apartments in Canada, raking in a cool $2 Billion dollars.