{"id":477346,"date":"2026-02-15T23:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/477346\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:01:11","slug":"consumer-price-index-falls-inflation-at-lowest-in-nearly-5-years-as-housing-prices-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/477346\/","title":{"rendered":"Consumer price index falls; inflation at lowest in nearly 5 years as housing prices r"},"content":{"rendered":"

The consumer price index<\/a> fell 0.3% in January, exceeding analysts\u2019 expectations for a decline of between 0.1% and 0.2%, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Because January last year saw a sharp 0.6% increase, annual inflation slowed to 1.8%, well within the government\u2019s 1% to 3% target range. It marks the lowest annual inflation rate since June 2021 and could pave the way for another interest rate cut later this month.<\/p>\n

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Season-end sales in clothing and footwear, brought forward this year due to unseasonably mild winter weather, contributed significantly to the decline. Prices for clothing and shoes dropped 3.9% in January.<\/p>\n

Other notable decreases were recorded in transportation, down 2.8%, culture and entertainment, down 0.7%, and owner-occupied housing services, down 0.2%.<\/p>\n

Price increases were seen in miscellaneous goods and services, up 2.4%, fresh fruits and vegetables, up 0.8%, health services, up 0.7%, home maintenance, up 0.6%, and rent, up 0.3%.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, February 2025 recorded a zero reading, and February this year is expected to post only a modest increase. However, March and April last year were elevated, with increases of 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively, raising expectations that the corresponding months in 2026 will show more moderate readings.<\/p>\n

Separately, housing prices rose at the end of 2025 despite declines during much of the year.<\/p>\n

The housing price index for November-December 2025, which is published alongside the January 2026 consumer price index but is not part of it, rose 0.8% compared with the previous two-month period, the sharpest increase since December 2024. It marked a second consecutive monthly rise following a 0.7% increase in the prior reading.<\/p>\n

On an annual basis, housing prices rose 0.4% compared with November-December 2024.<\/p>\n

By district, most regions recorded increases in November-December 2025. The Tel Aviv district led with a 2% jump, followed by the Southern district with a 1% rise. Jerusalem and the Northern district each rose 0.4%, and Haifa increased 0.3%. Prices in the Central district were unchanged.<\/p>\n

Compared with the same period a year earlier, prices rose in Jerusalem, up 9.6%, the Northern district, up 4.8%, the Southern district, up 1.4%, and Haifa, up 0.7%. Annual declines were recorded in the Tel Aviv district, down 1.9%, and the Central district, down 3.1%.<\/p>\n

New home prices rose 0.9% in November-December 2025, driving the overall increase in the housing index. On an annual basis, however, new home prices fell 0.9%.<\/p>\n

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Government-subsidized transactions accounted for 36.7% of new home deals in November-December, down from 42.1% in the previous two-month period. Excluding government-supported transactions, the new home price index rose 0.7%.<\/p>\n

Quarterly data show that the national average price of a home reached about 2.36 million shekels in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 1.8% from the previous quarter and 0.5% from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

The Tel Aviv district recorded the highest average price at approximately 3.36 million shekels per home, while the Northern district posted the lowest at about 1.57 million shekels.<\/p>\n

Among the 18 largest cities, each with more than 100,000 residents, average prices above 3 million shekels were recorded in Tel Aviv, about 4.16 million shekels, Herzliya, about 3.97 million shekels, Jerusalem, about 3.33 million shekels, and Ramat Gan, about 3.28 million shekels.<\/p>\n

Prices below 2 million shekels were recorded in Beersheba, about 1.28 million shekels, Ashkelon, about 1.72 million shekels, and Haifa, about 1.83 million shekels.<\/p>\n

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, notable increases in average home prices were recorded in Jerusalem, up 10%, Haifa, up 8.9%, Beit Shemesh, up 7.6%, and Rehovot, up 6%. Declines were seen in Rishon LeZion, down 7.8%, Netanya, down 4.2%, Kfar Saba, down 2.8%, and Herzliya, down 2.2%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The consumer price index fell 0.3% in January, exceeding analysts\u2019 expectations for a decline of between 0.1% and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-477346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}