Kiryat Gat Outpaces Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in New Apartment Sales

New data from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for the third quarter of 2026 reveals a significant surge in new apartment sales in Kiryat Gat, a city that has surpassed both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in this metric. This stands in contrast to a notable decline in sales in Tel Aviv.

Nationwide, the new apartment market saw a 7.2% decrease in sales compared to the previous quarter, and a 12.2% drop when adjusted for seasonality. However, year-over-year, new apartment sales increased by 4%, or 10.7% seasonally adjusted. A key factor driving sales in the new apartment sector is government subsidies, with 35.7% of all new apartments sold in the third quarter being part of government-supported programs. In September alone, subsidized apartments accounted for 33.2% of new home sales.

The second-hand apartment market also experienced a downturn, with a 4.5% decrease in transactions from the previous quarter and a sharper 14.2% decline compared to the same period in 2025. Geographically, the Southern district led in overall sales volume, followed by the Central district. While Tel Aviv and Central districts saw declines in second-hand sales, the Haifa and Northern districts reported increases.

Kiryat Gat led the country in new apartment sales, though specific figures were not provided in the article. Haifa followed with 598 new apartments sold, a 16.8% increase. Tel Aviv-Yafo ranked third with 537 new apartments sold, a significant drop from 1,328 in the previous quarter. Petah Tikva saw a 69.2% increase in new apartment sales, reaching 440 deals, while Jerusalem experienced a 27.7% decrease, with 362 new apartments sold.

Despite the sales fluctuations, a substantial inventory of unsold new apartments remains, totaling approximately 85,080 units nationwide at the end of September 2026. This inventory represents about 25.8 months of supply at the current sales pace, indicating it would take over two years to sell existing stock. Tel Aviv district holds the largest portion of this unsold inventory, with around 26,500 units, followed by the Central district with approximately 21,070. Jerusalem leads cities with the most unsold new apartments (10,190), followed closely by Tel Aviv-Yafo (10,070).