Gindi Offers Decade-Long Payment Deferral With Hidden Costs
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
Real estate firm Gindi Holdings is offering buyers a 10-year deferral on the final 900,000 shekel payment for apartments, effectively covering interest costs. An analysis reveals this offer provides buyers with a benefit significantly less than its cost to the developer, suggesting a direct price reduction would be more advantageous. Meanwhile, Ministry of Finance data shows nearly half of investors selling property bought since 2020 have incurred real losses, signaling a potential crack in the Israeli real estate market's long-held investment appeal.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Gindi Holdings offers a 10-year payment deferral on 900,000 shekels for new apartments.
- The offer's actual benefit to buyers is significantly less than its cost to the developer.
- Developers are hesitant to lower prices due to bank loan restrictions and market expectations.
- Nearly half of investors selling property bought since 2020 have experienced real financial losses.
- A direct price reduction would be more beneficial for both buyers and developers than financing schemes.
Real estate company Gindi Holdings is offering a new promotion for apartment buyers: pay a down payment now, the majority upon key handover, and the remaining 900,000 shekels ten years later, interest-free and without linkage. This offer, presented as a generous gift, is analyzed by the article as a financial maneuver that benefits buyers significantly less than it costs the developer.
The article suggests that instead of complex financing schemes, Gindi could simply lower apartment prices. However, it explains that developers often cannot afford to reduce prices due to substantial bank loans taken for land acquisition and construction. Banks may resist price reductions if it could negatively impact their overall portfolio of loans to other developers.
Furthermore, developers are reluctant to lower prices because they are invested in the long-held Israeli dream of rising property values. They hope for a market recovery, fearing that a price drop could shatter this illusion, transforming apartments from investments into basic consumer goods.
Data from the Ministry of Finance, presented by Deputy Chief Economist Galit Ben Naim, indicates this dream is already faltering. In 2025, nearly half (47.5%) of investors who bought property after 2020 and then sold it, did so at a real loss. In southern Israel, this figure rises to 62%. This data, based on approximately 12,000 reported transactions, suggests a significant portion of the market is experiencing real financial losses.
The article calculates the true value of Gindi's offer for a typical buyer like 'Riki' from Hadera. Instead of a 900,000 shekel deferral, the actual benefit to Riki, considering a 2.75% annual interest rate on her savings, amounts to a discount of approximately 214,000 shekels on the apartment's current price. For Gindi, the cost of financing this deferral over a decade, assuming a 4.25% interest rate, is about 306,000 shekels in today's terms. This creates a gap of about 92,000 shekels between the buyer's gain and the developer's loss, a difference that grows over the entire payment period. The author concludes that a direct price reduction of 300,000 shekels would have been more beneficial for both parties, except for the banks who would earn less interest.
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