A significant development has occured in Tel-Aviv over the last decade: whoever succeeded in buying an apartment in the city prior to 2004, has found that it rises in value each year, unremittingly, inexorably. One reason for this dramatic rise in prices is the increase in the number of foreign residents who have "discovered" Tel-Aviv, a vibrant coastal city offering a rich cultural and recreational life with competitive prices, especially when converted into dollars or euros.
Aside from the Zionist motives of Jewish foreign residents who wanted to establish a secondary home in Israel, the wave of anti-Semitism of the middle of the previous decade to date has caused many foreign residents, mainly French, to buy themselves an apartment in a safe haven – Israel. They began purchasing apartments in Tel-Aviv, mainly on streets near the sea, thus causing the transformation of neglected, forgotten streets such as Ben-Yehuda into coveted real estate gems.
It is important to bear in mind that prices of apartments in Israel have always been cheap in comparison to Europe, and considered a safe investment. In parallel, many contractors came to realize that foreign residents are a clientele worthy of their efforts, so they began offering prestigious projects throughout the city, marketing them to this sector. The latter, as well as the nouveau riche population, businessmen and high-tech personnel who've chosen to make their home in Tel-Aviv, usually in prestigious buildings which offer, aside from comfortable living quarters, services such as round-the-clock security guards, adjacent parking (usually underground) and even perks such as a gym, spa or pool in the building itself.
The awakening of the real estate market in Tel Aviv in the new millennium has also driven up the value of the old apartments adjacent to the new buildings. The Tel-Aviv municipality's huge investment in the massive renovation of streets and boulevards has helped bring about an increase of hundreds of percent in the value of real estate in the city. The most prominent example is Rothschild Street on which—prior to the renovation, estimated in billions of shekels—one could buy a three room apartment for less than one million shekels. The same apartment has doubled, perhaps even tripled its value since the neglected Rothschild Street of the turn of the millennium has become the main artery of the "city without respite", attracting all of the lucrative recreational businesses, a huge variety of restaurants and lively activity throughout the year on the boulevard itself.