In contrast to Western countries, in Israel there are no databases of real estate assets, one of the most basic preliminary conditions for attracting entrepreneurs and investors who want to know whether it pays for them to invest and build or is it preferable rent offices in a particular employment area. In Israel there is no statutory body that collects data on the office market, and it is difficult to extract information from the local authorities on existing inventories of rental offices in any given region. Lack of information forces entrepreneurs and potential investors to work in the dark and gamble on their short- and long-term plans. At times the are successful, and at times they find that next to the building they constructed two other buildings popped up unexpectedly.

It is true that in some areas there are urban building plans that specify the areas designated for offices and for residential building, but this is not enough, and more information is needed from the authorities, for example, about building permits that have been issued.

In the U.S., for example, a great deal of information is collected on office transactions, leases, the occupancy of assets, sale prices, permits, tenants, etc. At CoStar, a company traded on Nasdaq that collects information on the office market, some 1,400 employees collect and manage the information and produce statistical reports in every possible cross-sectional view for any interested party. Insurance companies, brokers, and entrepreneurs feed their data into this simple information system and also derive data from it for their use, so that everyone benefits from sharing the information.

In Israel it will probably take some time before this type of information system becomes available. But as a first step, there is urgent need for local authorities, through financial companies or the departments that manage assets, to consolidate the data in their possession into one complete database that would be accessible to everyone. The information exists, but it is dispersed among various authorities, and it is therefore difficult to obtain a clear picture of what happens in the local office market.

Israeli tax authorities do not publish the prices of individual transactions, and the only information available is provided by stakeholders or contained in notifications to the stock exchange by public corporations. Thus, reliable and accurate information about the office market exists only in the hands of those who deal in the field regularly and collect the information by surveying individual projects and office buildings.

Establishing an information system of this type in Israel is vital. It can encourage foreign investors to show interest in the Israeli market and local investors to build and develop industrial centers.
It is time that mayors keep their promises to voters and sponsor the creation of an information system about the office market that would promote employment in their regions, and create jobs and economic activity in their cities. And the sooner the better.