It took three years and a day from Moshe Kahlon's swearing in as Israel’s finance minister to his finally being able to breathe easily. The latter occurred on May 15, when the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported the first drop in housing prices in a decade.

According to the data, there has been a steady decline in housing prices over the past year, totaling 0.1%. This is hardly a revolution — the cost of apartments in Israel remains high — but it could be cause for optimism as far as many young couples are concerned.

For Kahlon, also chair of Kulanu, the decline is especially good news at this time, as it is obvious that the current government has started counting down to the next election. It would have been a major problem for the man who demanded the Finance Ministry, and gained unprecedented powers so he could fulfill his campaign promise to lower the cost of housing, if the real estate bubble continued to expand out of control. In fact, during Kahlon's first two years in office, housing prices steadily rose, causing him considerable damage in the polls. In some polls, Kulanu lost as many as half of the 10 seats it won in the 2015 election.

That is why the new data is not only good financial news for those looking to buy a home, it is also important political news. In fact, the decline in housing prices is Kahlon’s entry ticket to the next election cycle as an important player. If Kahlon knows how to turn this into an effective election campaign issue — and he has proven in the past that he knows how to operate in that manner — Kulanu is here to stay, at least for another term.