Expected future housing minister: Is there really a housing crisis?

United Torah Judaism chief MK Yitzchak Goldknopf, the presumed future construction and housing minister in the next government, suggest he does not see any housing crisis in the country.

“People are always talking to me about a housing crisis — I don’t know much about the Housing Ministry until now, so I don’t know if there really is a crisis,” Goldknopf says at a conference organized by the Walla news site, adding: “From what I see, there is construction all around.”

Central Bureau for Statistics figures for October suggested house prices for the last year across Israel have risen by 19.8%, compared to a 5.1% increase in the overall cost of living (the Consumer Price Index), and a 4% increase in salaries.