Nearly 8,000 Winners Prepare for Next Steps in Israel’s Discounted Housing Lottery

Approximately 120,000 people registered for the latest round of Israel’s "Discounted Apartment" lottery, with nearly 8,000 winning apartments and the rest receiving rejection notices this week. About half of the winners are reservists. Developer Dvir Dimri and real estate expert Zvi Kalter discussed in a podcast how winners should prepare for the next phase and advised non-winners on alternative strategies.

Dimri explained that winners must exercise patience, as the process from lottery to signing binding contracts can take two to three years. During this time, developers complete land development, receive committee approvals, and submit plans to the Ministry of Housing to designate which units will be sold at discounted prices and which at market rates. Only after these steps will winners be invited to a brief 45-minute meeting to select their apartment.

Dimri recommended that winners come well-prepared by researching building layouts, neighborhood amenities, and transportation access, and by preparing multiple apartment options. Financially, Bank of Israel allows financing up to 90% of the market value, subject to conditions, so consulting a mortgage advisor two to three weeks before the selection meeting is advised. Additional costs include a 40% linkage to the construction input index on the remaining balance, legal fees of about 6,000 shekels, and infrastructure connection fees. Dimri suggests keeping a reserve of around 20,000 shekels beyond the planned budget.

For the 112,000 who did not win, Kalter and Dimri cautioned against impulsive purchases of secondhand peripheral apartments lacking safe rooms or agricultural land not zoned for construction. Instead, they recommend continued market education, considering legally supervised partnerships such as joint purchases with family members, or developing long-term investment plans aligned with one’s financial capacity.