In October 2016, the Ministries of Housing and Construction and Finance announced that they had selected six foreign construction companies (out of 50 that submitted bids) – five from China and one from Portugal – that would be authorized to build housing in Israel. The ministries said that the companies would begin building in Israel in 2017, and would be listed in the database for only five years, with three-year extension options at the Ministry of Construction and Housing’s discretion. The ministries also asserted that the foreign companies would bring industrialization and competitive prices, resulting in lower prices for homebuyers.