Housing deals in Israel show signs of recovery

The number of housing deals in Israel’s real estate market continues to consistently rise, according to the latest Central Bureau of Statistics figures. For the first time in a while the housing inventory has started falling as sales strengthen.

In February 7,490 homes were sold, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 7.4% lower than January but up 2.1% when seasonally adjusted and up 27.4% from February 2023.

The biggest rise is in comparison with previous quarters: between December 2023 and February 2024, 21,850 apartments were sold, compared with 4,760 between September and November 2023 – a period that included the holidays and the first two months of the war. But even compared with the previous year, housing deals rose 10.6% from December 2022 to February 2023.

Despite the impressive recovery, these are still not high figures in a historical context. According to the latest survey by the Ministry of Finance, housing deals in January and February 2024 were 15% below the monthly average in recent decades.

A change in the trend? Inventory of homes for sale has fallen

One statistic that has received a lot of attention in recent months is the inventory of new apartments remaining for sale, which hit new heights in late 2023 and early 2024. In January, The inventory of unsold new homes reached a record 67,980 In June 2021, the inventory of unsold homes was less than 40,000, by the end of 2022 it had climbed to 51,153 apartments. The figure continued rising but now for the first time since May 2022, the figure has begun falling. There were 66,930 unsold new homes at the end of February 2024 compared with 67,980 apartments in January.

The latest Central Bureau of Statistics figures reflect continued weakness in the second hand housing market. Although these apartments still made up the majority of deals between December 2023 and February 2024 (52.5% of the total), the amount – about 11,320 second-hand apartments sold during this period – reflects a decrease of 2.6% compared with the corresponding period last year. However, this is an increase of 63.1% compared with September-November 2023.

From a national perspective, most apartments were sold in the Central District (26.9% of all apartments sold between December 2023 and February 2024), followed by the Southern District with 21.5% of apartments. Ashdod is the national leader in the sale of new apartments in the period under review with 683 apartments sold, followed by Jerusalem with 590 apartments and Tel Aviv-Yafo with 470 new apartments sold between December 2023 and February 2024.

In deals for second-hand apartments during this period, Haifa leads with 781 apartments, followed by Jerusalem and Beersheva, with 573 second-hand apartments sold in each city.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 14, 2024.

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