Housing Market Stagnation Deepens in April as Tech Workers and Investors Bought Fewer Homes

The stagnation in the housing market continued even after the latest round of fighting with Iran ended: in April this year, 5,081 apartments were purchased, both secondhand and new, a 19% decline compared with April last year. That is according to the monthly residential real estate review published today by the Chief Economist’s Department at the Ministry of Finance. Compared with the previous month, this was a 31% drop. Excluding sales at government subsidy prices, such as Price for the Resident or Price Target apartments, the number of transactions in the free market in April totaled 4,340 apartments, down 20% from April last year and 36% from the previous month.

Thus, while in March, which took place entirely under the shadow of the war, the decline in the number of transactions was relatively moderate, the number of transactions in April 2026 was especially low, even by historical standards. The data also show that developer sales in April totaled 2,107 apartments, including subsidized units, a figure that reflects an 11% decline compared with April 2025 and a 25% drop from the previous month. Excluding subsidized sales, developer sales in the free market totaled 1,366 apartments, a year-on-year decline of 12% and a sharp 37% drop compared with the previous month. The share of newly purchased apartments bought “off plan” stood at 59%.

In a geographic breakdown of developer sales in the free market in April, the Beersheba, Central and Rehovot areas stood out with sharp declines of between 30% and 45%. By contrast, the Tel Aviv area saw a sharp jump in these sales, 133%, totaling 314 apartments. Finance Ministry economists said this increase was influenced, among other things, by the exercise of options in one project in Tel Aviv. The share of newly purchased apartments bought “off plan” in April stood at 59%, two percentage points lower than the previous month. Compared with April last year, this was a decline of five percentage points.

The data also show that the share of transactions in which a financing benefit was reported in April stood at 21% of all developer sales in the free market, in transactions with delivery at least one year from the signing date. This rate is two percentage points lower than the previous month. On an annual basis, it is a sharp decline of 17 percentage points. The Central District continued to stand out with a relatively high rate, 35%, of financing benefits.

In an analysis of actual cash flow from the sale of new apartments by developers, before deducting costs, this cash flow was found to have stood at 5.4 billion shekels, a real decrease of 16% compared with April last year. After deducting costs, developers’ actual cash flow stood at minus 200 million shekels, meaning negative cash flow. This cash flow does not include financing expenses.

The Finance Ministry also examined total secondhand home sales, which in April stood at 2,974 apartments, down 24% compared with April 2025 and a sharp 35% plunge compared with the previous month. For the first time in a long time, a sharper decline was recorded in the secondhand housing segment than in new apartments. The drop in secondhand purchases is especially notable in the Tel Aviv area, and particularly in Tel Aviv itself, after only 86 secondhand apartments were purchased in the city, a sharp decline of 59% compared with April last year. In the first four months of the year, these purchases fell by 34% compared with the same period last year. This is the sharpest rate of decline compared with the national picture, where the average drop was only 6%.

In an analysis of the employment characteristics of secondhand home buyers in Tel Aviv, a sharp decline stands out in the prevalence of employees from the high-tech sector, from 26% in April last year to just 11% in April this year. It was also found that the salary levels of buyers in April last year were lower than those of buyers in April this year, 540,000 shekels compared with 900,000 shekels, respectively. In an analysis by the Finance Ministry of the prevalence of a protected room in secondhand transactions, based on transaction reports to the Tax Authority, this rate nationwide remained at a relatively high level, similar to its level in March, with the start of Operation Roar of the Lion. However, in the Tel Aviv area there was a decline in this prevalence, suggesting that the sharp drop in secondhand sales in this area is not explained, at least not to a large extent, by a growing preference for apartments with a protected room.

Investors bought 751 apartments, and housing upgraders bought 1,266 apartments. Investor purchases in April totaled 751 apartments, down 12% compared with April last year and a sharp 43% drop compared with the previous month. As a share of all transactions, investors accounted for 15%, three percentage points lower than the previous month and with no significant change compared with April last year. Investor sales totaled 922 apartments, down 28% compared with the same period last year, as well as compared with the previous month. First-time buyer purchases in the free market totaled 3,064 apartments, including subsidized units, a 12% annual decline and a 20% monthly decline. Excluding subsidized purchases, this segment totaled 2,323 apartments, down 12% compared with April last year and 28% compared with the previous month. Housing upgraders purchased 1,266 apartments, a sharp 34% decline compared with April last year and a 44% decline compared with the previous month. In an analysis of housing upgrader purchases, comparing those who improved their housing by buying a more expensive apartment than the one they sold with those who downsized, the share of downsizers was found to be 25%, three percentage points lower than the previous month and unchanged compared with April last year.