Tel Aviv housing more expensive than most European cities

July 19 (UPI) -- Housing in Tel Aviv, Israel, is more expensive than all but one European city, a recent property survey found.

The Deloitte's Property Index, Overview of European Residential Markets, found Tel Aviv's residential real estate market was more expensive than all but Paris.

The auditing firm looked at the housing markets in 62 cities to come to the conclusion. Israel is the only market based in the Middle East to be included.

In Tel Aviv, the average price per square foot was $12,184 -- up 5.6% since 2019. In comparison, Paris's prices were $15,181 per square foot.

The only city included in the study to see a decrease in housing prices was Rome.

Austria led countries with the highest cost per square foot. Hungary saw the highest growth in one year. Romania had the highest interest rates.

The review authors said the data will change as they expect a major downturn in the economy.

"The economy of Eurozone is forecasted to decline by 6.3%," the authors wrote. "The downturn will be the deepest in countries that were severely hit by the pandemic -- Italy where decline by 9.1% is expected and Spain with expected decline by 8.0%. The German economy, the biggest trading partner of the Czech economy, is forecasted to decline by 7.0%."

The authors also noted the labor market may considerably change the housing prospects.

"The trend of improving labor market situation is over," the authors wrote. "The labor market situation will worsen again because of a deep recession. The unemployment rate in EU will jump to roughly 10% this year from a record low of 6.3% last year. Relief can be expected next year provided a next wave of the pandemic does not arrive."