Israeli Housing Market Slows Further as Unsold Inventory Stays Near 84,000 Homes

Israel’s housing market remained sluggish in the February-April 2026 period, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Developers and sellers completed 20,610 home sales in those three months, down 15.4% from November 2025-January 2026 and about 11% lower than a year earlier. The Finance Ministry’s chief economist had already reported a similar slowdown in its monthly April housing review.

New homes accounted for about 39% of all sales, or 8,050 units, with roughly 26% of those sold under government subsidy schemes such as Price Target. Sales of new apartments fell 11.6% from the previous three-month period and 7.4% year on year. Second-hand homes made up about 61% of sales, 12,560 units, dropping 17.7% from the prior three months and 12.9% compared with last year.

In April alone, 5,120 homes were sold. About 42% were new units, 2,160 in total, and 34.4% of those benefited from state subsidies. The rest, 2,960 homes, were resale units. Monthly sales fell about 34% from March, though after seasonal adjustment they rose, and the month also followed the end of the latest round of fighting with Iran.

The CBS said the broader trend has weakened again since July 2024, after earlier periods of decline and recovery in both new and second-hand sales. In regional terms, the Center and South led total sales in February-April with 26.3% and 20.8% respectively. Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Yafo and Kiryat Gat led new-home sales, while Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba led resale sales. By the end of April 2026, 84,000 new apartments were still unsold, unchanged from the previous month, and the supply pace stood at 29.5 months. Nearly 30% of that stock was in Tel Aviv District and 24.5% in Central District, while Jerusalem had 10,130 unsold units and Tel Aviv 9,960 among cities with more than 100,000 residents.