The dollar is weakening recently, and today the Shekel to Dollar exchange rate is only 3.9800. This is a worry for many vendors in Israel. Israeli property vendors will either turn to a Shekel asking price or demand a bottom line Dollar exchange rate so as not to lose too much money. Many vendors sell in Dollars and if they are buying new properties they have to pay in Shekels. This can cause many problems and many deals have been broken before contract due to the Dollar Shekel exchange rate issue. I understand the problems of foreign buyers, especially those who have US Dollars and want to pay in Dollar currency. It must be understood that Israel is a country whose currency is Shekels, it would be ludicrous if I wanted to buy real estate in the USA and expected the vendors to except Israel Shekels. For many years the Dollar has stood strong and both Israeli's and foreign buyers have enjoyed using the Dollar as the currency for real estate transactions. Now things are changing. Building developers are now forced by Israel law to sell only in Shekels and with the Dollar slumping below the 4 Shekel mark I believe very soon most residential real estate in Israel will be sold according to a Shekel asking price.

Moadim LeSimcha

Michael Bloom