Apartment Lottery Program Faces Delays, Lower Appeal
A significant portion of apartments allocated through Israel's "Apartment at a Discount" housing program have not yet received full building permits, according to an analysis by Tal Zacharia, co-manager of the "Smart Discount" website and administrator of the "Real Estate Market News/Discount Apartment" Facebook page. His data indicates that only 37% of apartments drawn in lotteries since 2022 have obtained a full building permit, with an additional 26% receiving conditional permits. The remaining apartments, including some drawn in 2022, are still awaiting permits.
Zacharia, who previously won an apartment in a government program, has been tracking these lotteries for years. He contrasts the current situation with the earlier "Price for Me" program, where lotteries were held for mature projects, allowing winners to move in within three years. He explains that "today, many plots with problems are marketed, and only then are they resolved, which takes years." He cites a project in southern Haifa where lotteries were held four to five years ago, and permits have only recently been issued.
Furthermore, Zacharia points to changes in how discounts are calculated. While the original "Price for Me" program favored developers offering the lowest price per square meter, the current "Apartment at a Discount" program bases calculations on market prices, which he argues are not always accurate. This, combined with delays in obtaining permits, makes the program less attractive than before, particularly for those who need housing sooner rather than later. He suggests the program is now best suited for individuals with no down payment and the patience to wait for construction to begin.
Real estate appraiser Roi Fishman and economist Idan Peleg, partners at "Building the Future," corroborate these findings. Their analysis of the two most recent lotteries (August 2025 and May 2026) shows that for approximately 15,500 apartments, no building permit application has been submitted for 80% of them. They estimate that obtaining a permit can take 18-24 months after application, meaning many winners will face multi-year waits.
The Ministry of Construction and Housing stated that it actively monitors all "Apartment at a Discount" projects and works to remove obstacles. They also noted that including recently marketed projects might skew the overall data and not reflect a definitive trend.
