Israel New Mortgages Jump in March as Benchmark Rate Nears Zero

Israelis took out more mortgages in March than in any other month in at least a year, after the Bank of Israel cut the benchmark interest rate to close to zero.

Banks lent homebuyers 5.6 billion shekels, a 20 percent increase over the previous month, the bank said in an e-mailed statement. In addition to the lower borrowing costs, customers also took advantage of a refinancing program initiated by the government and the central bank, and the increase included about 320 million shekels in rescheduled credit, according to central bank figures.