Housing Prices Won't Fall, Says Major Developer Yigal Dimmri

Yigal Dimmri, the controlling shareholder of construction company Dimmri, stated that housing prices are unlikely to decrease in the near future, citing rising construction costs of 25% over the past year. He dismissed official figures indicating around 84,280 unsold new apartments by late June 2026, a supply sufficient for about 26 months at the current sales pace, as "nonsense." Dimmri argued that these figures include apartments for which building permits have been issued but construction hasn't started, and do not reflect a lack of demand.

He asserted that demand for housing remains frozen, similar to two years ago, with high interest rates and the war causing a temporary pause in purchases. Dimmri pointed to a recent "Apartment at a Discount" lottery, which attracted 130,000 couples for only 7,000 available units, as evidence of persistent demand. He acknowledged that some struggling companies might offer localized price drops, but this would not represent a market-wide trend.

Dimmri warned that if more construction companies face financial difficulties and exit the market, the resulting scarcity of supply coupled with existing demand would cause prices to surge. He expressed hope for price stabilization rather than a decrease. The article notes that Dimmri's company has seen its stock rise 3.6% in the past year, mirroring the TA Construction Index, and has a market capitalization of 8.8 billion shekels.